A Gift and a Curse
by Codename-ShadowFox
Summary: Three small almost insignificant changes in time cause a huge difference twelve years later. M for everything that would fall under M rating, plus most likely lemons in the future. My first Harem story - Naru/Anko/Hina Read AN inside.
1. Shortest Kage Term Ever

**AN - **Yo! Shadowfox here with a new story! Well not exactly new, I've been writing pieces for it for the past few weeks when I wasn't working on CN:SF or To2J. This will be my first harem story Naru/Anko/Hina, Naruto will be darker and more cynical while Hina will be much colder to those beside Naru/Anko. I was thinking of making it a 4 harem story however, so please leave a review if you think I should add 2 more girls beside Anko and Hinata. First 3 chapters are done, and I should finish chapter 4 by the time the story gets posted, and 5 will probably be done this evening.

**Disclaimer - ALL CAPS RAGE OVER NOT OWNING NARUTO!111!ONEONE1!**

**Plug - **Check out **WarFlower** for a good Naruto/Gaara psycho buddy story, and check out **Minato4Yellowflash** a relatively new author and I'm trying to help her get some readers!

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**Quick Background Summary - **Orochimaru instead of leaving the village when Minato becomes the Yondaime stays. At her brother's insistence Anko's parents waited before having a child, 2 years before the end of the 3rd war Anko was born making her two years older than Naruto. Her parents and uncle however died during the Kyuubi attack and was put into an orphanage until Orochimaru took her on as an apprentice at the age of 6. That's pretty much it for the altered history.

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: I**

The Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was standing atop the Hokage tower. The entire village had gathered that night for the important message.

"Attention, citizens of Konoha! Tonight is a very special night. Tonight I step down from the position of Hokage," he paused for a moment to let the disappointed wails die down. "And proudly introduce, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato!" the crowd did a 180 and began to cheer loudly.

One man however was seething in anger. A pale man, skinny enough to look as though he would fly off in the breeze. Despite his appearance though, this man was a legend, one of three, a Sannin if you will.

The hate and anger now held within him was enough to unintentionally leak killing intent in a twenty-foot radius around him. _How could sensei pick that brat over me? A Sannin?_ _No matter... one day I will claim the title... for now however, I must return to my test subjects Kukukuku._

**xXx**

Meanwhile the newly minted Yondaime Hokage was giving his speech. Once he was finished, he stepped back inside of the Hokage tower and walked into his office.

"Congratulations, Lord Hokage." A sweet voice said from inside the dark room.

Minato flipped on the lights and mirrored his wife with the same grin she had on "Thanks, Kushina." he walked over to her and landed a kiss while caressing her enlarged stomach.

"The doctors say it should only be a week or two more." she informed him.

"Good. I can't wait to meet my son!" He managed to say through the grin plastered on his face.

Kushina giggled before speaking again "You know if you keep doing that, your face will stay that way." she teased.

"Well I would stop but I can't seem to be able to." He once again spoke through his grin before letting it fall. "I just have so much to be happy about. I married the love of my life, my son will be born soon, and I've finally kicked the old man off his throne." he chuckled as did she.

"So, what now Lord Hokage?" she asked with a smirk before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Well I would suggest we break in the desk, but being as close as you are I don't want to risk it." he said while supplying his own smirk.

"Your no fun." she joked before planting a passionate kiss on him. "So I'll meet you at home?" she asked once they separated.

"Yeah, I just need to sign a few things, get the combination to the Hokage vault, and then be privy on all the village's little secrets." he said with a smile as Jiraiya and HIruzen walked in.

"So, how does it feel to sit in the big boy chair, Gaki?" Jiraiya asked joyfully.

"Hey! That's Gaki-Sama to you now sensei." Minato chided playfully.

Jiraiya just let out a hearty laugh "Indeed it is."

"It feels good to finally retire, I'm sure you will look forward to the day starting tomorrow." Hiruzen stated.

Minato frowned slightly before asking "Why? What happens tomorrow?"

"The arch-nemesis of all Kage" Sarutobi simply stated.

Minato blanched after figuring out what he meant "Paperwork..." he muttered slowly.

Both Jiraiya and Hiruzen laughed at his expression.

Minato just looked at the Sandaime "Is it too late to give you back the hat, old man?" he asked with a tinge of hope.

"Much too late my boy, much too late." he replied with a chuckle.

**xXx**

**(11 Days Later)**

Kushina along with Minato, and Biwako the Sandaime's wife were all in a small room as Kushina was going through labor.

"AHHHHHH! DAMN YOU MINATO, I'LL RIP IT OFF BEFORE I LET YOU DO THIS TO BE AGAIN!" Kushina roared.

Minato covered himself defensively, completely forgetting about the seal for a moment. It glowed slightly but returned to normal as soon as Minato re-focused on it.

"Kushina just keep breathing and give us a few more big pushes, I think I see the head." Biwako told her.

"AHHHHHH DAMN YOU TO HELL MINATO!" Kushina cried out and she gave another big push.

If only Kushina knew that a few hours from now, Minato would be spending the rest of eternity at that very place.

"J-Just keep breathing Kushi-chan, It's almost over!" Minato said as he continued focusing on keeping the seal in tact.

None of the four occupants noticed the new arrival outside. It was a man in a black cloak wearing a one-eyed mask with a flame design on the left side.

After killing the ANBU outside the man teleported inside of the cave and killed Biwako wife who was holding the new-born Naruto.

Minato used the Hiraishin to retrieve Naruto and took him to the nursery in their house, during the time he was gone the masked man had taken Kushina away.

**xXx**

"Now I warn you... this may hurt a bit." The masked man said before slamming his hand into her seal, allowing the Kyuubi to drain out of her.

"**ROOOAAAARRRR!**" The newly reformed demon let out a menacing roar that shook Konoha to It's very core.

"Kyuubi... we have some unfinished business." The masked man stated calmly.

At the voice, the nine tailed fox turned and growled at the owner with a look of pure malice on It's face. "**Uchiha Madara**." The demon lord spat the name out like an unsavory taste in his mouth.

"So you do remember me? I'm touched." The man gave a dark chuckle before activating his bloodline.

"**I would sooner die than serve you again!**"Kurama stated as he prepared a demon bomb.

"You say that like you have a choice! **Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!**" The moment the Kyuubi looked into his eyes was the moment he realised his mistake. "Now Kyuubi-chan, go destroy Konoha for me like a good little demon." Madara applied a seal to the Kyuubi and Shunshin'ed to the middle of Konoha where he performed the summoning jutsu, unleashing the demon lord on the village.

**xXx**

"Lord Sandaime, the Kyuubi is loose in Konoha!" A jounin reported.

"ANBU!" Shouted the former Hokage, making four masked ninja rise out of the ground and kneel before him. "Round up all available jounin and chuunin that are able to fight." The aged Hokage ordered.

After giving out orders to the rest of the ANBU, the Third went to go change into his battle gear. _What happened Minato?_

**xXx**

**(Two hours later)**

Minato and Kushina had just given their lives to seal away the Yang half of Kyuubi's chakra into their newborn Naruto, and the Yin half into a special section of the Scroll of Seals.

Now the Sandaime arrived at the scene to see the young Naruto crying in a bed next to the Scroll of Seals. "Minato... Kushina..." He walked up to the child and picked it up, holding it gently. "I'm sorry Naruto..."

The Sandaime called an emergency meeting to tell the council of the event that had transpired, needless to say the civilian side was less than civil.

"KILL THE DEMON!" One of the civilian councillors shouted, followed by similar cries from his side of the table.

"SILENCE!" The Sandaime shouted. "We will not kill Naruto, he is a jinchuuriki. Once he is older he will be trained as a ninja and used as a deterrent for war. As of this day forth I'm in stating a law making knowledge of his jinchuuriki status an S-rank secret, it is now illegal to mention or speak of this to anyone who doesn't already know. The crime is punishable by death if the law is broken."

"But Hokage-sama, that demon-child killed Minato-sama!" A fat pink haired banshee screeched.

Hiruzen was tempted to reveal the child's heritage but decided against it if this was their initial reaction. As Hokage he gave his citizens the benefit of the doubt, but as a veteran shinobi he knew that sensitive information is best kept away from as many ears as possible.

"Haruno Meushi, you along with the rest of the civilian council is dismissed." The Hokage stated.

The fat cow Meushi disagreed however. "What of the shinobi side, lord Hokage? Why are we being dismissed while they are not? We are councilors as well and deserve to know!"

A lazy man with two scars on his face sighed before speaking. "Troublesome... you're not needed because Hokage-sama will most likely talk to us about ninja matters, and seeing as how you aren't one it doesn't concern you." Shikaku, the jounin commander said.

"Shikaku is correct, Meushi. Return to your home and tend to your daughter. Dismissed." The Hokage said in a no-nonsense tone.

The civilian side left with a huff, and the Hokage ordered the ANBU to seal the room. "What I'm about to tell you is an S-rank secret above Naruto's jinchuuriki status. If this secret is revealed you will be sent to Ibiki for a month of continuous torture and interrogation and then executed." Hiruzen said in a cold voice, causing even the stoic Hyuuga Hiashi to give a slight shiver. Once recomposed the clan heads along with his two advisors nodded.

"Naruto's parents are Uzumaki Kushina, and Namikaze Minato. I believe that Kushina's seal broke during labor, and Naruto being their son was Minato's only choice as the next jinchuuriki. Having the Uzumaki blood would allow him to survive it, while Minato would never ask for another child if he could not sacrifice his own." Hiruzen explained.

"Hokage-sama, as Minato's closest friend I ask that Naruto stay with us." Said the Hyuuga head.

"Oh yeah, give the Hyuuga clan more power in the form of a pet jinchuuriki. Why not just give him the Hokage's hat while you're at it?" Sneered Uchiha Fugaku, he was about to speak again but was interrupted by the Hokage.

"Enough! Fugaku is correct in a sense, Hiashi I cannot allow the child to go to your clan as it may show favoritism. None of you are allowed to come into direct contact with Naruto unless first sanctioned by me. I also want to remind all of you that you are not allowed to tell your children what he holds inside of him or who his parents are, am I clear?" The Hokage said.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" The clan heads chorused.

"I would also ask that other than your children that will be in his academy classes, none of your clan come into contact with him. Naruto... looks like an exact copy of Minato and having clan members near him would draw unwanted attention. Hopefully anyone who seems him will just think of it as mere coincidence and not connect the dots." The Hokage added.

"Lord Hokage, what name will the child take?" Akimichi Chouza asked.

"Uzumaki, after his mother. Some knew that she and Minato were friends, and that she was pregnant but they kept their relationship a secret so no one should know." Hiruzen told them.

They discussed a few more things and decided that Naruto would be placed in an orphanage for children whose ninja parents had died.

**xXx**

**(Timeskip 4 Years)**

"And never come back again, demon!" The woman who ran the orphanage literally kicked Naruto out into the rain.


	2. Saved by the Snake

**AN - **Before you say anything, yes I know the chapters are short and they are going to be since I will be working on this story in my time off from my other 2 main stories.

**Disclaimer - **Don't have anything witty to say so I'll just say I don't own Naruto, so you can move on with the story aight?

**Plug - **Check out **WarFlower** for a good Naruto/Gaara psycho buddy story, and check out **Minato4Yellowflash** a relatively new author and I'm trying to help her get some readers!

* * *

Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: II**

"And never come back again, demon!" The woman who ran the orphanage literally kicked Naruto out into the rain.

Naruto was never sure why he was hated so much but it always seemed worse on today, October 10th his birthday.

Realising that he probably wasn't going to be allowed back in, Naruto set out to find somewhere to hide out until the rain stopped.

It had taken two hours for the sky to clear up, and Naruto used that time to think about why all of this always happened to him.

Naruto was never liked, the matron had always beat him and gave him less food than the other children. After a while he took to stealing food at night, but after being caught a few times he stopped. Instead he sneaked out of the orphanage and stole food from other homes.

Naruto was never sure how he was able to do it, but he was able to run really fast for his age and size, and could jump on top of a one story building rather easily. He had seen the ninja of the village do it so he tried it out and to his amazement he was able to do it. The ninja reminded him of the only person who didn't want to hurt him, the old man Hokage. He was the leader of the village and the strongest ninja, and would come to the orphanage at least once a month to check up on him.

As the sky cleared up, he walked out and started to walk around looking for something to eat, when he felt something or someone watching him.

He quickly turned around and there was... nothing. Sometimes if he was quick enough he would see the ninjas in the white masks before they disappeared. Naruto never trusted them, because they would always be watching him but never did anything to stop the people until they were ready to land the killing blow on him.

A few times, Naruto was brought into the hospital by an ANBU for surgery but most of the times the doctors just made it worse.

Fearing what he would do now since it he had no home, he accidentally walked into the market district, which was a terrible mistake.

"Kill the demon!" A random voice shouted from behind him.

Without even bothering to look back, Naruto set off on a full sprint and jumped onto the roof of one of the shops.

The ninja in the mob took to the roofs as the civilians followed along the street. A chuunin had caught up to Naruto and punched him in the face, causing him to crash down into the sidewalk where he was quickly surrounded by the mob.

All of this was seen by a six-year-old girl and her teacher.

"Sensei, why do they want to hurt that boy, did he do something wrong?" The little girl asked.

"No he did nothing wrong other than have the misfortune of being born. They fear him because they do not understand, and out of that fear hatred is born." The man told her.

"Shouldn't we help him then?"

"Do you think we should?"

Anko saw the chuunin pull out a kunai and slowly walk towards the boy slowly.

"YES! If he did nothing wrong then they don't have the right to hurt him!"

"Very well." The tall man said as he flew through some handseals, "**Doton: Mud Wall!**" he called out before slamming his palms into the ground. A cylinder of solid rock rose out of the ground, surrounding Naruto.

"What the?" One of the civilians said as he scratched his head at the earth wall.

"Stop this foolishness." The man said as he approached the crown.

"B-But we were so close to killing the demon once and for all!" A civilian woman cried out.

The chuunin who was ready to stab Naruto immediately dropped the kunai and kneeled in front of the man.


	3. A Fox and Two Snakes

**Disclaimer - **Nope still don't own Naruto... maybe next chapter?

**Plug - **Check out ******WarFlower** for a good Naruto/Gaara psycho buddy story, and check out ******Minato4Yellowflash** a relatively new author and I'm trying to help her get some readers!

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: III**

The chuunin who was ready to stab Naruto immediately dropped the kunai and kneeled in front of the man.

Standing in front of them was none other than Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin.

"Go home, I will handle this problem personally." Orochimaru said with enough coldness to freeze lava.

"H-Hai, Orochimaru-sama!" The chuunin stuttered out before running off, soon the entire mob dispersed.

Orochimaru released the mud wall, and the little girl ran up to Naruto.

Naruto looked up at the pale man, shivering and asked, "Wh-What are you going to do t-to me?"

"Nothing." Orochimaru responded in a bored tone.

"Are you ok?" She asked before seeing the large black bruise on his left cheek from where the chuunin punched him, "Does it still hurt?" she asked pointing at the bruise.

"A little but it gets better after a while." Naruto said as he winced from the girl touching the bruise.

"Sensei, we have to help him!" The girl exclaimed.

"No, now let's go." Truthfully Orochimaru always held some resent for the boy. Not because of the Kyuubi but because the child's father stole his spot as the Yondaime.

"No." The girl said defiantly as she pouted and held Naruto to her chest, lightly so as not to hurt him further.

"Anko..." Orochimaru growled out her name in annoyance.

"Sensei, he's coming with us whether you like it or not." The girl identified as Anko said as she stood up and held her hand out for Naruto. He looked at her hand for a moment before taking it. Anko instantly latched on his right side, entangling her left arm with his right.

"Fine..." Orochimaru grumbled slightly then started to walk away.

"So kid, what's your name anyways?" Anko said as she used her free hand to poke his whisker marks.

"Anko-chan, you should always introduce yourself first before asking for someone elses name." Orochimaru reminded her.

"Oh right! I'm the greatest and most beautiful future kunoichi, Mitarashi Anko!" She said with a flourish.

"I-I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." He said in a low tone.

"Naruto, huh? That's a cute name, almost as cute as those whisker marks!" Anko said with a grin ad she lightly scratched his whisker marks.

Oddly enough to Naruto that felt good... really good. He was getting distract though, and he needed to be careful after all this is his birthday. Some other kids have pretended to be his friend before only to turn around and beat him up, so he naturally became wary or letting new people near him.

"Umm... Anko?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"Anko-chan." She corrected.

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"To you Naruto-kun I'm either Anko-chan or Anko-hime or Anko-tenshi or Anko-sama. They all work!" She grinned again.

"Uh ok, Anko-chan... where exactly are we going?" Naruto had let her lead him off for the past few minutes.

"I dunno, I've been following you. Seeing as we ditched sensei a while back, I thought you wanted to go somewhere more... private." Her happy grin turned slightly more feral.

"Uh... no, I thought you wanted to go somewhere." Naruto said nervously.

"Nah, I do sometimes just like to walk around and you're kinda cute so I don't mind walking with you." Anko said as she tickled his whiskers slightly.

"Oh..." Naruto didn't really know what to say to that seeing as he's never been shown love or affection before he wasn't exactly sure how to respond. What were these strange feeling that he was having towards this girl? They weren't necessarily bad but just... confusing.

"Yeah." Anko said in a carefree voice.

"Maybe we shouldn't walk around today..." Naruto said as he looked around cautiously.

"Why?" Anko asked curiously.

"Because on today, what happened back there happens all day. Being outside is a terrible idea for me." Naruto explained.

"Well let's go inside somewhere and get better acquainted." She said with a smirk... not the smirk that promised pain, or at least not the normal kind of pain but the smirk that meant that things were going to get interesting soon.

"Well there's this ramen restaurant nearby that I like, if you want to get some food. I still have some money left over to pay for you and me." Naruto said as he checked his frog wallet quickly.

Anko's face lit up with a smile. "I would love to go on a date with you Naruto-kun!" She took hold of his arm again and took off in a random direction.

"Wait, Anko-chan It's the other way!" Naruto thumbed back to where they were.

Anko smiled and rubbed her neck in embarrassment. "Oh he he, why don't I just follow you then Naruto-kun?"

Naruto nodded and he asked if she could roof jump so they could get there quicker, she said she did know how and they took to the roofs.

* * *

**AN - **He he even at 6 Anko-chan loves to tease.


	4. First Date

**AN - **I know I said this chapter would be out ealier but I was pretty tierd when I posted up chapter 3 so I took a nap. Deal with it.

**Disclaimer - **Nope still don't own Naruto... stay tuned for the next chapter to see if I do. (Sneak peak: I still won't)

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: IV**

Naruto nodded and he asked if she could roof jump so they could get there quicker, she said she did know how and they took to the roofs.

As they ran along the roofs Naruto had a few thoughts going through his mind. _What is a date? Is that what you call it if someone goes to lunch with you? Why does she insist on holding my hand, and poking my cheek? This is confusing..._

"Hey Naruto-kun, where are we going again?" Anko asked as they hopped along the roofs.

"There is this ramen stand called Ichiraku Ramen, and the owners are really nice so I like eating there." He answered.

"Is it any good?" Anko asked as she turned to him.

Should I tell her? If I do then she will just leave me like everyone else...

She smiled at him. _Why do I feel like I can trust her? _"Umm... It's ok. It's not great but It's the only place that will let me eat there." Naruto answered sadly.

Anko felt somewhat bad for bringing it up but decided to cheer him up. "Well then, I'm sure It tastes great! C'mon let's get a move on so they can prove me right." She grinned as him and urged him to speed up.

"Ok... Yeah! Let's go!" Naruto subconsciously added a bit of chakra to his feet allowing him to go faster as they ran atop the buildings.

**xXx**

The two children jumped down to the sidewalk in front of the ramen stand. "Well we're here!" Naruto said as he guided Anko in who was still attached to his right arm.

"Hey Ayame-nee, Old man Ichiraku!" Naruto greeted the ramen stand owners.

"Hey Naruto-kun what'll you... have... today? Naruto you made a new friend?" Ayame turned around and eventually noticed the Violette haired girl holding his right arm.

"Oh yeah! Ayame, this is Anko-chan. Anko, this is Ayame-neechan." Naruto introduced them.

Hearing the honorific he gave the girl made her grin widely. "Naruto-kun, is she your-" Ayame cut herself off as she held up her pinky and flexed it a bit.

"My what?" Naruto asked, honestly confused about what the gesture meant.

"Are you his girlfriend, Anko-chan?" Ayame asked the girl.

"I don't know, am I Naruto-kun?" Anko asked as she turned to him with a cute pout.

"Uh... I guess that sounds about right. You are a girl and you are my friend so... sure?" Naruto said still somewhat confused as he led them to the bar stools.

"I don't think you understand Naruto." Ayame said with a sweat drop but Anko waved her off.

"Nope he understood perfectly. I'm Naruto's girlfriend now, he admitted it, and you all heard it." Anko said with a smirk.

"Anyway, I'll have three pork and four miso. Anko-chan what do you want?" Naruto asked.

"Whatever you think is good Naru-chan." She said as she winked at him and leaned on his shoulder slightly.

"Uh, ok... I guess Anko will have a miso too Ayame." Naruto said.

"Coming right up, loverboy." Ayame smirked as she went to the back to give her dad the order.

Anko was leaning her head on his shoulder as they waited for the order to be ready.

"So Naru-chan, tell me about yourself. I should at least know some stuff about my new boyfriend right?" Anko said as she sat up and turned towards him.

"Uh, well... I'm four. I turned four today, I like ramen, the old man Hokage, Ayame and old man Ichiraku, and I like to pull pranks." Naruto said.

"It's your birthday? Happy birthday! Remind me to get you a present later." Anko said with a smile.

At that moment Ayame came back with the ramen, "Yeah, Happy birthday Naruto. Everything you ordered is on the house!" she knew it was his birthday but didn't say anything because he always seemed sad when she brought it up and he was happy today so she didn't want to spoil that.

"And don't worry Naru-chan, I'll find you a present later!" Anko said as she dug into her ramen, which was surprisingly good.

Naruto was still confused but he was also hungry so he let it go in favor of ramen.

The two ate and talked about random stuff for a few minutes, and Anko was dying to ask why there was a mob after him but had enough sense to know that, that would just kill the mood.

Anko had ordered another bowl of miso and one of pork which she scarfed down at a Naruto-like pace surprising even him.

**xXx**

After they finished they said goodbye to the ramen stand workers and walked out. "That was pretty good, Naru-chan." Anko said.

"Yeah it is... I'm actually not that big of a ramen fan but I usually buy a lot from them since they've always been nice to me and I thought that buying a lot from them would be a good way to pay them back, and again the ramen is pretty good so I can't complain." Naruto admitted as they took to the roofs once more.

Anko didn't even notice that the bruise on Naruto's face was gone until now. "Hey Naruto-kun, I know you said that it would get better after a while but that bruise you had is gone." Anko said as she lightly caressed the spot where it once was.

"Yeah, I don't know how to explain it but when I get hurt I heal really fast. I once accidentally cut myself with a knife and it closed up in about two minutes." Naruto said.

"So It's like a Kekkei Genkai?" Anko asked, now curious.

"What's that?" Naruto asked as he spared her a glance before looking ahead once again before they jumped to the next row of houses.

"A Kekkei Genkai is a special bloodline trait that some ninja clans have, that allows them to do stuff that others can't." Anko explained.

"So It's a ninja thing? That's cool!" Naruto said.

"Yeah... let's go see Oro-sensei, maybe he can help you with it!" Anko exclaimed, and led him towards a different side of town.

* * *

**AN - **I sometimes see like Bluenette to describe Hina or Pinkette to describe Suckura, so I thought Violette could work for Anko and some other purpleish haired girls.


	5. Take what you can, give nothing back

**AN - **Hehe... it seems in my excitement to get out of my house for the midnight launch of Diablo that I forgot to post this chapter after having finished it. My bad. At least the party was great! Me, my girl and a few of our friends got together and had some drinks while they played on their computers and me and kimmi on her laptop.

**Diablo III - If you've already played it then you know that nothing in the english language comes close to describing It's epicness but 'Amazingly Fucking Awesome' is pretty close. There's probably a german word for it though. Like Uberwinfurever, or something.**

**Disclaimer** - Hey look at that I predicted the future! Yup you guessed it, I still don't own Naruto... but what about next chapter?

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Curse and a Gift: V**

"Yeah... let's go see Oro-sensei, maybe he can help you with it!" Anko exclaimed, and led him towards a different side of town.

They raced through the village for about fifteen minutes before touching down on the street. "Here we are! Sensei's home." It was a modest looking two-story house.

Anko ran up to the gate and rang the bell, a minute or so later the tall pale man from earlier stepped out.

"What is it Anko-chan?" Orochimaru asked as he moved towards the gate to let them in.

"Sensei! You'll never believe it, Naruto-kun has a kekkei genkai!" Anko exclaimed.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, his interest piqued. "Oh really? Why don't you two come in and tell me all about it." He said as he opened the gate.

**xXx**

"So you can passively heal yourself at an incredible rate?" _Must be because of the demon and not due to a bloodline... or that combined with his Uzumaki blood. _

"Naruto-kun that isn't a bloodline limit you hold... but something else." He started.

"Then what is it?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

"That I cannot tell you, but suffice it to say it is not a kekkei genkai." Orochimaru told him.

"So... I can't be a ninja then?" Naruto asked with a downcast look.

"Whoever said that?" Orochimaru asked.

"B-But if I don't have a bloodline, doesn't that mean I can't be a ninja?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto I'm a Sannin, do you know what that means?" Orochimaru asked.

"No."

"It was a title given to me, about ten years ago by a man known as Hanzo of the Salamander. He was a truly powerful foe to be able to hold off me and my two teammates and still walk away. Anyway, we are known as the

Densetsu no Sannin or the Three Legendary Shinobi. I and my teammates became legendary shinobi and none of us have blood lines, so if we can do it then so could you." Orochimaru stated.

"But no one would teach me how to be a ninja... everyone in the village hates me." Naruto said sadly.

"That's not true Naruto-kun! I don't hate you, and Orochimaru sensei could teach you! Right sensei?" Anko asked.

Orochimaru pondered this for a second. _A jinchuuriki... under my control. Yes, that would be a definite help when I finally move against this accursed village. _"Of course." He said with his very snake-like smile.

"Y-You mean it?" Naruto asked with hope as he looked up at the pale man.

"If you are truely willing to learn the willing to learn the ways of the shinobi like Anko-chan then I will teach you as well." Orochimaru said as he stood up straight and looked down at the boy.

"I will do whatever you ask of me... sensei." Naruto said as he kneeled in front of the man.

"Very well then. First lesson, get rid of those hideous garbs. Bright orange is not a ninja color." Orochimaru said with disgust at the oversized orange shirt that he was wearing.

"Where am I supposed to buy clothes, sensei? No one will sell to me." Naruto said as he stayed kneeled with his head down.

"Then don't buy it. Steal it." Orochimaru said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Steal it?" Naruto picked up his head with a confused look on his face.

"Break into a store at night and take what you want. That or find a way to steal it in broad daylight, doesn't matter to me how you acquire the clothes so long as I no longer have to see the ones you are wearing after today." Orochimaru said before dismissing them.

**xXx**

Naruto and Anko were leaving their sensei's house and took to the roofs once again.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll help you buy some." Anko said with a smile.

"I don't plan on buying them." Naruto said, much to her surprise. "I'm going to steal them... ninja are supposed to be good at stealing stuff and this will be my first step. My first mission."

"If you say so, Naruto-kun. Let's look around for now and see if we can find any clothes you like so we can mark the places to hit." Anko said as she pulled out a small map of Konoha and a pen. "Take whatcha can, give nothing back." She said with a grin.

Naruto nodded and they started scoping out their targets.

**xXx**

"Well this is stop number one." Said a female voice. It was close to two in the morning and two small figures were barely visible in the dark.

The second figure nodded and they creeped towards the back of the store. He was pulled into the shadows by the female figure just as a ninja jumped overhead. Naruto had also unknowingly lowered his chakra levels to a bare minimum. They cautiously stepped out and the girl removed her hand from his mouth.

"Thanks Anko-chan, that was a close one." The boy whispered.

The female shadow now identified as Anko who was standing behind him leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Any time Naru-kun." She whispered into his ear.

Naruto froze for a moment, not completely sure what just happened. Anko stepped around him and crouched down in front of the locked door.

"Keep a look-out Naruto." She said before pulling out a senbon from her hair and a kunai from her sleeve.

Naruto nodded and kept an eye out for any patrolling Uchiha. They are lucky that the Uchiha only activate their dojutsu when they suspect something is up, or they would have been found by now.

"Little more." Anko stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and she concentrated on the lock, "And... *click* got it." she grinned.

"Good job, Anko-chan." Naruto whispered as they slipped into the store.

Their first stop, at their sensei's suggestion was a weapons shop. Not only for the weapons but for sealing scrolls to store their haul from tonight. Anko pulled out a checklist that she prepared for them. "Ok we're going to need ten sealing scrolls first off." Anko said as she walked over to the section where they store them.

During the day Anko went inside of the stores and made a list of what to get from which store, while Naruto waiting outside on the roofs.

She picked up ten of the scrolls and handed them to Naruto, who placed five of them in the backpack he had on.

Anko took two scrolls from Naruto and wrote 'Kunai' on each one before moving to that section. "Sensei said we should get one-hundred each." After five minutes she sealed them and Naruto placed the scrolls in his pack.

"Ok next shuriken, one-hundred-fifty each." They did the same as with the kunai before moving on to seal up one-hundred explosive tags, a bag of fifty soldier pills, and finally two spools of ninja wire.

"Ok anything else?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, we're going to need pouches." Anko said. They each picked a pair of plain black pouches. Anko reasoned that when they find out that some stuff was stolen then they would look for patterned pouches and Naruto agreed.

"Ok let's go hit the clothes store." Anko said, but was stopped when Naruto help her shoulder lightly.

"Hold on, Anko-chan. I'm taking these also." Naruto said as he held a pair of trench knives. "I just need to find something to put them in and we can go."

Anko told him to wait there and she went into the back, coming out with a two solid black holsters a minute later, "Here you go, Naru-kun." she smiled as she handed them to him.

"Let's seal them for now." Naruto said, and Anko nodded as she sealed both the sheathed trench knives in the scroll.

"Four empty scrolls left, so we'll take two each for clothes." Anko said.

Naruto nodded and they locked the door before running off into the shadows.

**xXx**

Getting the clothing was much easier, since the patrols switched and they were able to easily sneak into the store.

"So... how do I look, Naruto-kun?" Anko struck a pose as she showed off her black skin-tight ANBU suit, along with shin guards, and a trench coat that she shortened with a kunai.

Naruto blinked a few times, he tried to say something, but just couldn't.

Anko smirked as she noticed him staring. "That good, eh?"

"Uhh... yeah you look.. um... yeah." Naruto babbled.

Anko giggled and pushed him into the changing room. "Hurry up and get changed so we can get out of here.

A few minutes later Naruto walked out some black shinobi sandals, a pair of normal black shinobi pants, and a black zip-up hoodie with a mesh shirt underneath. The hoodie was big enough on him that he could pull down the hood to cover the top of his face. Under the sleeves, Naruto had on a pair of ANBU forearm protectors, and some black fingerless shinobi gloves with a metal plate on the back of the hands.

"Not bad." Anko said as she saw his new gear. "Get a few pairs of the stuff and let's get out of here."

Naruto nodded and grabbed nine more pairs and they sealed them up.

"Congratulations on doing your first mission, Naru-kun. Infiltration and retrieval of items, complete." Anko said jokingly as she grinned.

"No, we're not done yet. We still need to get away with it." Naruto reminded her.

"Right." Anko nodded and they creeped out of the building.

Naruto somehow picked up a sound a few feet away and pulled Anko back in before shutting the door. He held her close to him, with his back to the door and his right hand over her mouth. His left hand still wrapped tightly around her arms and waist from when he pulled her in.

Anko didn't really mind, in fact she leaned back more into him. Something about him pinning her against himself and covering her mouth so she couldn't say or... scream anything was making her cheeks blush slightly.

After no longer being able to hear anything outside, Naruto let go of Anko but she didn't seem to want to move. "C'mon Anko, let's get out of here." Naruto whispered.

"Oh... yeah..." Anko recomposed herself and followed him out, and into the shadows of the village.

* * *

**AN - **Please reveiw and tell me what you thought!


	6. The Snake Pit

**AN - **Took a break from Diablo today since two of the group members couldn't play, so I wrote up this chapter! Read, Enjoy, and Review!

**Disclaimer - **Last time on Disclaimer Z! The evil copyright aliens were winning against our hero Shadowfox! (Kishimoto's Alien Legal Team Squad hit Shadowfox for over 9000! Critical-Hit! Shadowfox is unable to claim ownership of Naruto!) tune in next time!

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: VI**

"C'mon Anko, let's get out of here." Naruto whispered.

"Oh... yeah..." Anko recomposed herself and followed him out, and into the shadows of the village.

Anko had led him towards a different section of the village that he's never been to before, "Anko-chan, where are we going?" he asked.

"You'll see." Anko said with a sly grin.

_**(Flashback)**_

Naruto and Anko had returned to Orochimaru's house after scouting out the stores.

"Anko-chan when you are done tonight, take Naruto-kun to the Snake Pit. He can sleep there for the night and store his possessions there as well." Orochimaru told the girl.

"That's the one on the east side, right sensei?" Anko asked.

"Yes. You remember the sequence to drop the seal correct?" Orochimaru asked.

"Hai, Oro-sensei." Anko said happily.

"Go now, Anko-chan. I will meet you there tomorrow." Anko nodded and walked out of her sensei's house where Naruto was waiting.

"Lets go find something to do while we wait for night, Naruto-kun." Anko said.

"Uh... sure." Naruto said, and just followed her.

_**(Flashback End)**_

Twenty minutes later they entered the industrial district, and Anko led them to their destination.

"Naruto-kun, sensei said that you can sleep in one of his warehouses tonight and that he would meet us here tomorrow."

"Oh... ok." Naruto just nodded and continued to follow her.

Ten minutes later they landed on the side of a building, in the middle of an alley. "We're here, Naruto-kun." Anko exclaimed cheerfully.

"Where is here?" Naruto asked as he looked around.

"The Snake Pit." Anko said with a smile.

"Ok." Naruto paused, "So what is the 'Snake Pit'?" he asked with air quotes.

"A pit full of snakes... what else?" Anko answered with a condescending grin.

"Right, how silly of me." Naruto said as he rolled his eyes.

"Shush. I need to concentrate."

Naruto just raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet.

Anko gathered some chakra in her hand and touched the wall causing it to glow, and making a large seal array appear. She moved her hand about the wall meticulously as if trying to drop the tumblers on a lock. "Almost... Got it!" Just as she said it the wall stopped glowing and parts of the wall split apart to show a doorway.

"Welcome," Anko waved her hand towards the dark hallway. "To the Snake Pit." Her grin had returned full blast.

"Normally I wouldn't follow anyone, anywhere much less a into a dark place called the snake pit. I must be loosing my mind..." Naruto sighed as he went in first.

"You know Naruto-kun... we're all a little insane, It's just to what extent. Besides training with Oro-sensei, you would have lost it anyway! This just speeds things up." She said with a sickening sweet smile. It gave him both a sense of danger and reassurance at the same time.

_Yup definitely loosing my mind._

The blonde's sighed and just kept walking.

**xXx**

The Snake Pit was nothing like Naruto would have guessed. Sure there was a pit full of blood, but Anko had explained that Orochimaru used it to hold death matches, and to scout for future prospects . There were even stands for gamblers who would come to see the fights and place high-stakes bets... he must be rich considering that Anko said ten-percent of all winnings went to him.

The walls of the arena were covered in weapons and armor, some had seen good use. Most likely used in some of the matches, judging from the dried blood and tears on the armor.

Next Anko had showed him the back that held a few rooms. One held a decent sized kitchen, most likely used to make food for any 'guests' that came by. Another was a small library, containing mostly books on random subjects and a few jutsu scrolls.

The third was a decent sized bedroom along with a small bathroom. The closet was big enough, and the bed more than enough.

"So that's everything!" Anko said as they finished the tour.

"Ok. So I guess I'll see you in the morning then." Naruto said as he yawned, "Night, Anko-chan." he said as he laid down on the bed.

"Yup, I'll talk to ya some more in the morning, but right now I'm beat!" She grinned to herself, the small light did little to light the room.

"Yup, *yawn* see ya... tomorrow." Naruto had just closed his eyes before he felt the bed move slightly and felt an arm drape around him. "Uh... Anko-chan? What are you doing?"

"Well I was thinking of getting some shut-eye as soon as you stopped talking." She said tiredly.

"I see, but I meant what are you doing sleeping in the same bed?" Naruto asked, his eyes looking in front of him into the darkness of the room, not bothering to turn around.

"Well there is only one bed. And It's almost three in the morning... do you really expect me, your girlfriend... to walk home, alone?" She said in a convincingly hurt tone, but held a smirk in the darkness.

"Anko... I can tell by the tone in your voice that you really wouldn't have too much of a problem doing that. Also we were just prowling around stealing stuff for the past hour in the dark and you didn't seem even a little afraid," Anko was pouting at hearing him easily see through her routine. "but honestly I'm too tired to care so just put out the candle and *yawn* go to sleep..." Naruto trailed off as he closed his eyes one again. Anko's smirk returned as she licked her fingers and put out the candle before pulling Naruto in a bit closer.

**(Sealscape)**

A dark figure chuckled behind a large gate. A lone crimson eye shown through the dark.

Little to Naruto's knowledge he held within him an ancient and terrible evil. The nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi no Yoko. Also unknown to the child, the demon had altered the boy's body over his short lifespan. The mind was his first and closest target, using his demonic chakra the fox enhanced the boy's mind to develop faster than that of a normal child, at age four he could think like a ten-year old. His next target was the boy's body. He altered his DNA so he could hit his growth spurt earlier and not far later like he would have normally. At the same time he would try to make his chakra network larger and more receptive to his demonic chakra. Wouldn't do to eventually take over his body only to be unable to use his own chakra.

The fox laid in his cage as he mused over the days events.

**"Excellent... the snake will make the kit stronger for me. I refuse to have a weak container, but I must also keep an eye on him... I sense an aura of malice to his chakra. Laughable at best when compared to mine, but still more than the average meatbag."**

The figure chuckled for a moment. **"Play your role snake... then when the time comes, I shall devour you!" **A deep rumbling, resembling laughing echoed throughout the prison.

**(Real World)**

Naruto had suddenly awoken in a cold sweat to the sound of deep... laughing? Looking over at the digital clock on the nightstand he read 7:32 AM. _Might as well get up._ He mused before hearing a whimpering sound next to him, looking over he saw the still sleeping form of the young Anko.

Anko, was slowly awakening after the sudden loss of heat. Her eyes fluttered for a moment as her sight blurred into focus. The first thing she saw being Naruto looking down at her with a small smile. "*YAWWWN* Morning, Naruto-kun." She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up as well.

"Morning Anko-chan." Naruto replied simply, before getting out of bed and walking out of the door.

Anko looked over at the clock and groaned at the time, _7:30? Ugh, why couldn't we cuddle some more? I'm still sleepy!_ she mentally whined. Deciding that it was still too early, she plopped back down onto the pillow and fell fast asleep once more.

Meanwhile Naruto had walked to the kitchen and looked for something to eat. He grumbled at seeing nothing but ingredients. _Well I'm most likely going to be living on my own from now on so I guess I should learn how to cook my own food. I doubt Orochimaru-sensei is the type to stand in a kitchen and make others breakfast, _The very idea of the pale man in an apron with a spatula sent shivers down his spine. _Really didn't need that image... plus I don't want to wake Anko-chan to ask if she knows how. _Taking out a few ingredients he had once seen one of the caretakers at his old orphanage use to make pancakes, he decided to giving those a try since he was never allowed to have some during his imprisonment at the hell hole... err orphanage.

Half an hour later Anko was riled out of her sleep by the smell of smoke. _Wait... smoke? Oh shit! _Anko ran out of the bedroom and immediately saw the black smoke coming from the kitchen. She could also make out a few obscenities here and there.

"KUSO! KUSO! KUSO!" Naruto was doing his best to try to put out the fire on the stove, unfortunately water doing a whole lot due to the heat still being on It's highest setting. Now Naruto may be able to think on the level of a ten-year old, but most ten-year olds still have some pretty stupid ideas. Naruto's being that having the heat on much higher would cut the cooking time down so he could eat sooner.

Anko would have sweatdropped at the scene, were it not so dangerous. Still the sight of Naruto frantically doing anything and everything to stop the fire was rather humorous. Anko having no time to laugh however, leaped into action! "**Hidden Shadowsnakes!**" Two small snakes flew out of Anko's short-sleeved shirt and grabbed the frying pan, tossing it into the sink. Naruto following her lead, turned on the tap on the fire and then grabbed a pot full to pour on the stove before turning off the heat.

After the crisis was averted, Anko couldn't help but tease him a little. "And what did we learn today, Naruto-kun?"

"My pancakes have a chance at being ranked as a Katon jutsu?" Naruto answered in a playfully sarcastic tone with an embarrassed look on his face.

"C-rank minimum." She replied with a smirk.

**xXx**

An hour later they could hear the sealdoor opening. "Sensei is here!" Anko said with excitement.

"Good thing we finished cleaning up the kitchen a while ago." Naruto said with a nervous chuckle.

Orochimaru walked into the kitchen, taking a few sniffs of the air. "Anko-chan, what have I told you about practicing your fire techniques indoors?"

"Wasn't me sensei, it was Naruto-kun! He created a C-rank Katon jutsu." Anko redirected the blame onto the blonde.

"Really? What is It's name?" Orochimaru asked with mild interest.

"He he... the burning pancake projectile jutsu?" Naruto said sheepishly.

Orochimaru just raised an eyebrow in slight annoyance. "Let's get to work."

The coldness in his voice sent shivers down the two kids' spines.

* * *

**AN - **Hope you guys liked it! Until next time!

**_~Shadowfox_**


	7. Meeting the Bluenette

**AN - **Holy shit just saw that Leaf Ranger reads this, loved Fox Knight bro it was one of the first stories I read when I found this site and is still one of my favorites. As for combining chapters I could do that, but I'd rather keep them short so I can quickly write them up and release them before doing something else. Anyway, enough about that! This chapter skips ahead 1 year from chapter 6. Since they were uploaded the same day I check chapter 6 in case you didn't see it before. Please read, enjoy, and review!

**Disclaimer - **Last time on Disclaimer Z, our hero Shadowfox fell to the Kishimoto Alien Legal Team Squad and is now traveling the Snake Path to see Kami to try and convince him to allow him to return to earth! Will he own Naruto this chapter? I don't think so.

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: VII**

Over the past year, Orochimaru had trained both Naruto and Anko extremely hard. After two weeks of conditioning, he had started to add weights to them. Orochimaru would increase the weight every two weeks, they were each up to fifty pounds each. Not exactly a lot but for kids of 5 and 7 it was a still rather heavy.

The day Orochimaru had arrived he had laid down some ground rules.

_**(Flashback)**_

"First I need to tell you two a few things. Naruto, under no circumstances are you allowed to come near me or address me as sensei from this point on in public. If you need to tell me of something send me a message through Anko-chan.

Secondly, I will allow you to stay here and show you how to open the seal if you wish," Seeing the boy nod a yes, he continued. "You however need to speak to the Hokage today and ask for one of the abandoned apartments in the lower parts of the city. If he asks where you sleep last night, tell him you broke into one of the apartments and slept there." The boy nodded once more.

"Lastly, you will need to occasionally exit the Snake Pit and walk around the village so the Hokage knows that you are still here. If he does give you one of old apartments, since you are not old enough to become a shinobi or have a job he will most likely give you a monthly allowance to buy food. You will only need to be in the apartment when he comes by to give you the money so he believes that you are actually living there. Again should he give you an apartment ask him to schedule a specific time each month and say that It's so you can be sure to be there." Naruto nodded once again as Orochimaru finished.

"Good. Now we'll start with a little spar, Anko-chan please give Naruto-kun a tour of the pit." A snake-like grin appeared on the pale man's face as he said it.

_**(flashback end)**_

Now Naruto had fallen into a routine of training, walking around the village, and spending one night in his apartment when the Hokage would visit to give him his monthly allowance.

First thing everyday would be a spar between Anko and Naruto. Anko used the Viper Taijutsu style, specializing in quick movements and rapid hits to... tender areas, and nerve points. Naruto on the other hand had created his own based on the Cobra Style. After observing a black mamba in one of Orochimaru's labs, Naruto quickly found it to be his favorite snake. The black mamba would first freeze for a moment and stare down It's opponent before delivering a lightning fast strike, on larger targets it would continue attacking in jabs after It's inital lunge, but on smaller targets it would hold on and let It's fast acting venom do the job.

The venom itself fascinated Naruto. It spread faster than any other natural one he had seen before. Orochimaru had told him that it consisted of mostly highly potent neurotoxins, the rest was a bunch of scientific information that just went over his head, but from what he gathered it killed hard and it killed fast.

So Naruto developed his fighting style around those principles.

- Suprise attack at first, hit and run on bigger targets, continuous assault on smaller ones.

- His main targets were the neck, and pressure/nerve points.

- He also with the help of Orochimaru created a poison out of the black mamba's venom that he could coat his trench knives and other hidden blades in. They of course also made an antivenom, just in case.

His favouritism of the snake didn't stop there. After signing the summoning contract and being taught the **Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadowsnakes) **Naruto had called upon almost exclusively on the black mouthed snakes. Soon he had also met Kurokuchi the largest of all the black mambas, who had taken a liking to the blonde haired boy and agreed to be his personal summon whenever he needed him.

"You OK, Naruto-kun?" A soft voice asked him.

"Huh? Oh... yeah I'm alright, Anko-chan."

"Alright, you were zoning out on me for a moment there."

"Yeah I'm fine... hey Anko-chan you keep practicing I'm going to take a walk."

"OK just don't take too long though Naru, Oro-sensei should be here in an hour or two."

Naruto nodded and exited his hideout. There was a thin fog this morning, it obscured his vision slightly but he didn't mind and rather enjoyed the crisp morning air. The last few weeks he had welcomed anything that would cool him down, due to the burning feeling in his stomach, it didn't exactly cause him pain it just felt extremely hot sometimes. He sometimes woke up in the middle of the night and felt the same fire all over his body but instead of cause him pain or discomfort it soothed his aching muscles after the day's training. Seeing it as more of a benefit than an annoyance he never paid it any mind or told anyone about it, he saw no need to. The cold was still a welcome feeling compared to constant heat.

**xXx**

He had wandered about the village for a while now, the fog had dispersed some time ago and he found out that he had walked close to the ninja academy. He always kept to the trees when possible, and as she took his stroll he picked up a few voices near by.

"Hey! You made me drop my ice cream!" He heard the voice of a boy say.

"G-G-Gomen..." He could barely hear even with his advanced hearing.

"What was that? I couldn't," Naruto heard something fall to the ground. "Hear you!"

"G-Go-Gomen n-n-n-a-nasai..." He heard the quiet voice stutter out through a few sobs.

Naruto decided to check it out and jumped onto a nearby branch that was close to where he heard the sound. He saw three boys pushing around some girl, after the constant drilling of Orochimaru to not show emotion when facing an enemy he was able to keep his calm exterior but inside he was ready to introduce them to his snakes. The largest of the boys reared his hand back to punch the girl.

Hinata saw this and clenched her eyes shut, awaiting the hit... but it never came. She did however hear a voice and a thud.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?" One of the boys demanded.

"Who I am doesn't matter, take your friend and go." The five-year old Naruto responded in a tone much colder than most would think impossible of a child his age.

"No, now we're going to kick your ass too! See these?" The other boy pointed to a metal plate on his head. "This means that we're genin and ninja so we're going to teach you a lesson in interfering in other people's business!" Said boy rushed straight for Naruto.

The girl looked up from the ground through blurry, teary eyes and saw one of the boys who was bullying her running towards another boy. She didn't even see what happened, one moment the boy was running at the blonde haired one and the next he was sliding on the ground past him. She rubbed the tears out of her eyes to get a good look at the blonde haired boy. He wore dark blue pants, along with a black sweater, and a black face mask that covered the lower half of his face and nose.

"Wh-What the hell are you?" The last boy asked.

"I'm known as Kurohebi, now take your friends and go or I'll show you the reason I have that name."

The boy didn't need another warning and scooped up friends before running off.

The girl looked up towards her saviour, he walked over to her and offered his hand. The morning sun was behind him, giving him a warm orange glow around him. She blushed slightly but took his hand anyway.

Naruto took off his face mask to show a whiskered face, and those deep blue eyes that earlier were cold as ice now looked like a lighter baby blue that held warmth, concern, sympathy, and safety. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"H-H-Ha-Hai..." She stuttered out with a deep blush on her face. She found his whiskers cute, and was drawn to his aura of confidence, but most of all she couldn't help but get lost in his eyes.

"I'm Naruto, what is your name?" He asked as he looked into her lavender tinted pupiless eyes.

She almost didn't hear his question, too busy getting lost in his eyes. Looking into his baby blues she felt herself floating through the clouds, but then remembered their earlier darker shade and found herself willing to drown in that ocean of dark blue. Snapping out of it however she freed herself from her trance just long enough to answer his question. "H-Hyu-Hyuuga H-Hina-Hinata"

"Hina, huh?" He said with a small smile.

Her blush intensified from the pet name and the smile, she was about to say something else before a loud cough caught their attention.

"Sorry am I interrupting something, Naru-chan? I let you out of my sight for an hour and you go and find yourself another girl?" A voice that Naruto knew all too well said from one of the trees.

"Hey Anko-chan," Naruto waved towards the tree, "This is Hinata." he said introducing the girl.

"Don't you mean Hina?" Anko spit out her name like the vemon that their snakes employed.

"U-Umm I'm sorry if I-I caused you any trouble Na-Naruto-kun..." Hinata said quietly as she looked down.

Anko snickered as she heard that. "Naruto-kun?" her eyes narrowing on the younger girl, before jumping down beside Naruto and wrapping her arm around his waist. "Let me introduce myself. The names Anko, and I'm Naruto's girlfriend." She said with a smirk.

A flash of sadness showed in the young Hyuuga's eyes but Naruto having still not completely understood the concept of a girlfriend was confused why the bluenette seemed sad and why Anko almost sounded angry.

He was about to speak up but was interrupted by Anko by Anko holding her hand up. "Let's go Naru, sensei sent me out to look for you and It's best not to keep him waiting." She said.

"Ok. I'll see you later then Hinata." Naruto said with a wave before Anko grabbed the offending hand and intertwined her fingers in it. Anko sent one last glare back at the pale eyes girl before taking to the trees.

"Hinata-sama!" A voice called out.

"Oh, Ko-kun..." Hinata said with a still somewhat sad voice.

"Hinata-sama, what happened to you?" Ko asked about her disheveled appearance.

Hinata looked down in shame. "I ran into some boys and made one of drop their ice cream and they started pushing me around before another came and made them go away."

"I'm sorry for being too late to aid you, Hinata-sama. Please forgive me, and I shall make sure that this other boy receives my full gratitude for helping you and I will also make sure that those ruffians are brought to justice for harming the heiress of the Hyuuga clan. Now let's go Hinata-sama."

Hinata nodded slightly and only looked back at the trees once more before sighing and following her bodyguard.

* * *

**AN - **I might have time to write up another chapter before I have to get back to Diablo, I may not. We'll see.

_**~Shadowfox**_


	8. Dango to the Rescue!

**AN - **You wanted a longer chapter? Well you got it! Honestly I started it right after finishing chapter 7 ealier and it just wrote itself. Also since all three of these were released today, check out chapters 6 and 7 first if you haven't already! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer - **Last time on Disclaimer Z, our hero Shadowfox was walking the Snake Way to try and reach Kami-sama. Shadowfox was nearing a large mansion along the snake road.

"Oooo look, a guest!" A serpentine looking woman said.

"Nope, just passing by!" I shouted back.

"Nonsensssssse, you musssst ssssstay for a while!" Another snake woman said.

"Yeah... well..." I ran as fast as possible past the house.

"Aww, another gone! Well at leassssst he doesn't own Naruto!"

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: VIII**

"Let's go Naru, sensei sent me out to look for you and It's best not to keep him waiting." Anko said.

"Ok. I'll see you later then Hinata." Naruto said with a wave before Anko grabbed the offending hand and intertwined her fingers in it. Anko sent one last glare back at the pale eyes girl before taking to the trees.

"Is something wrong Anko-chan? You look a little angry... are we out of dango again? We can stop for some more before heading back to the Pit if you want." Naruto said, trying to calm her down a bit.

"No." She bit out. "Everything is just peachy."

"Ok well just so you know you're crushing my hand."

"Deal with it!"

Naruto was taken aback by her outburst for a moment but quickly decided that the smart thing would be to not question her anymore.

**xXx**

Seeing that Anko wasn't in a talkative mood, he instead thought back on the pale eyed girl. Hinata...

Like Anko's eyes Hinata's were also pupiless but rather than brown they were a soft lavender.

She seemed more soft-spoken and shy in contrast to Anko's loud and brash personality.

Anko's skin had a nice even tan, while Hinata's was a pure alabaster white.

Hinata's hair reminded him of some hina dolls he once saw on display in a shop, while Anko's hair reminded him more of a palm tree. He would never say that to her face though.

She looked almost helpless against those other boys, while Anko was usually the only doing the tormenting.

In almost every way shape and form they were opposites... and yet he had that same weird feeling towards Hinata that he has for Anko. He still had no idea what it was but he could tell that it was the same one he feels for Anko.

Normally if he had a question he would ask his sensei or Anko but neither were valid choices for this one. The very thought of talking to Orochimaru about feelings or emotions was akin to a death wish, and seeing as Anko was the one this was about she was obviously out. Maybe he could ask the Hokage? The old man was always nice to him and willing to answer most of his questions. _Yeah... I'll just ask him the next time he visits._

**xXx**

Orochimaru had been feeling generous that day and taught them a new jutsu. The **Dokugiri (Poison Mist Jutsu)** like the name implies, the user releases and fog of poison in front of them. Anko's version killed quickly as she demonstrated during one of her fights, while Naruto's quickly shut down the nervous system, paralyzing and eventually killing the enemy. Naruto found this rather useful as he could force someone to reveal any information he may need in exchange for the antidote.

Orochimaru had only ever taught them new jutsu when he held his deathmatches. Naruto and Anko had participated a few times to try out their new jutsu, and both were still alive so I'm sure you the results of their fights are obvious. Orochimaru wasted no time on weakness and Naruto's first fight was a month into his training, which he had barely pulled through by stabbing one of his trench knives through his opponent's throat. Naruto had gone into shock moments afterwards, and Orochimaru had no desire to coddle the boy but had Anko jumped down and pulled him out of the pit, before taking into the back. Anko explained that killing was a fundamental part of the ninja life and that their sensei would have no qualms with putting them through life and death situations. Anko told him to remember that the shinobi life was survival of the fittest and that he had to kill his enemies to ensure his own survival.

Naruto was too out of it at the time to hear a word she said so Anko just laid beside him on the bed and stroked his hair as they both fell asleep. The following morning Anko had retold him everything from the night before and although hesitant at first, he understood that this was his life now and he would not let his life be snuffed out so soon, he would fight back any and all threats and kill if necessary.

Each kill was never any easier than the last, he just better at being able to ignore his emotion with each subsequent kill. After a year, Naruto was able to almost completely shut himself off but would end up in a depression for a short while afterwards.

After today's fight he retreated to his room and went straight to sleep. He awoke in the morning alone, but he just shrugged and walked out to the kitchen.

Since Anko was an orphan as well she also received an apartment and some money from the Hokage, but when Naruto had moved into the Snake Pit she told the Hokage that her sensei had a house that he didn't use and he let Anko have it. The Hokage knowing that she was Orochimaru's apprentice saw no problem with letting her stay in one of his student's houses and not an old apartment building. Having asked her if she still needed her monthly allowance, she answered that her sensei would take care of the expenses. Funny enough the apartment she gave up, the Hokage had given to Naruto later in the day.

Anko had taken to sleeping next to Naruto ever since the first night, and always slept-in so Naruto did find it odd that Anko wasn't still asleep on the bed but paid it no mind. He then found it weird that she was nowhere in the building but again figured she was probably out doing something, so he fixed himself a quick breakfast and started on his training for the day.

Over the year Anko had taught Naruto how to cook some simple meals so he wouldn't starve and how to properly make pancakes so he wouldn't burn down the building. His curious nature eventually took him over and he started experimenting with the food supply. The first few months anything and everything he made looked, smelled, or tasted awful but he kept trying and eventually started making a few culinary creations that didn't resemble the rear end of a pig.

**xXx**

Now Naruto was starting to wonder where Anko was, since the day had passed and he hadn't seen her anywhere. It was 8:47 at night, not exactly late but the sun had already set. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to look for her since the shadows would hide him from those damned civilians, he left the lair and started his search.

An hour later he was ready to give up and head in for the night, but first he wanted to stop at his apartment to pick-up a scroll he left there a few days ago.

Heading in the direction of the lower city he thought back on the previous day's events and wondered if she was still mad about whatever she was mad about. Bingo. In a rare moment of insight he worked out that she must still be mad about something and wanted to be alone for a while. _Still I should get her something to cheer her up if she comes back to the Pit tomorrow._

Naruto had been jumping along the roofs and at a chance moment he looked down and spotted a dessert shop that was still open. _Thank you Kami-sama, I owe you one! _

Doing a quick henge he jumped down and entered the shop. There were cakes, pastries, and other treats all throughout the shop.

"Hello sir, can I help you?" A woman behind the counter asked.

"Uh yeah, I was wondering if you have any chocolate covered dumplings. Friend of mine is mad about something and she loves dango so I was hoping this could cheer her up." Naruto was henged into what he thought he would look like as a teenager, just without the whiskers. Orochimaru always warned him to keep them hidden.

"So your girlfriend is mad at you, right?" The older woman asked with a knowing smile.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in shock. "How... How did you know?"

"Oh please, boys come in here all the time for the same reason. Honestly It's probably what keeps me in business." She chuckled lightly. "Anyway, I'll be right back with those choco-dango. We're actually out at the moment but if you give me a few minutes I'll whip you up a fresh batch and dip them in some chocolate."

"Ok, thank you."

A few minutes later the woman emerged with a tray that held three sticks of dumplings. "The chocolate is still melting so it will only be a few more minutes."

"That's fine." Naruto replied with a smile.

"So tell me, what's her name?"

"Mitarashi Anko." Naruto replied.

The older woman laughed at the irony of being named after her favorite food. "I wonder if her parents were psychics or she just learned to love dango since she's named after it."

"I'm not sure." Naruto said with shrug and a small laugh.

"So, what did you do to get her mad at you?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I was taking a walk and some guys were harassing a girl, so I told them to beat it and Anko came along right after we introduced ourselves."

"I see." The woman nodded to herself. "Well I suppose Anko saw this other girl as a threat since you're supposed to be her knight in shining armor not someone elses."

"Well yeah, but I wasn't just going to let those guys hurt Hinata."

"Which was the right thing to do and I'm guessing Hinata was the girl you helped?" Naruto nodded. "You said Anko showed up after you introduced yourselves so maybe she didn't see the reason why you were talking to Hinata in the first place, and got jealous."

Naruto closed his eyes and nodded to himself thinking that, that made sense. It would explain why Anko sounded mad, and why she was scowling at Hinata the entire time, and why she was acting meaner than normal. It did make sense but he still wasn't sure why Anko was jealous anyway. Hinata was a friend who was also a girl... hopefully Anko won't have this bad of a reaction if he ever made any other girlfriends.

"Guess I need to explain what happened the next time I see her." Naruto said as he looked out the door into the darkened city.

"It would be best to see her tonight along with these, babies." She said as she pointed at the now chocolate covered dango that were cooling off. "At first she may want some space but if you explain what happened I'm sure she will understand." The woman said with a smile as she bagged up the dango and handed it to Naruto.

"Yeah... hey thanks for the dango and the advice, how much do I owe you?" Naruto asked as he pulled out his wallet.

"Well the dango is $10 and the counseling is $120." The woman broke out into laughter at his jaw dropping. "I'm kidding, this batch is free on account of you saving that girl. Good deeds deserve rewards, or at least a way of getting back on your girlfriend's good side." She winked and shooed him off, telling him to go find her.

**xXx**

It was about 10ish at night by the time he reached his apartment. Figuring he might as well just keep the dango in the refrigerator and sleep here for the night he fished out his key from his pants and unlocked the door.

As soon as he closed and the door, he felt a sudden rush of killing intent from behind him and pure instinct was the only thing that stopped the kunai from being lodge into the back of his head. He stared at the knife seeing it imbedded into the wooden door.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing here, Uzumaki?" There it was again, if controlled fury could be used as a tone of voice then Anko discovered it.

"A-Anko-chan!"

"Don't you, Anko-chan me!" She said as she rushed forward and pinned him between her and the door with a second kunai on his neck.

"Wait, hold up a sec."

"No chance in hell."

"Not even..." Naruto slowly moved the brown bag from behind him and offered it to her. "for chocolate dango?"

Anko saw red and snatched the bag from out of his hand, removing the blade from his throat so she could pull out a stick from the bag. "How *munch* dare you, use *munch* chocolate covered *munch, munch* dango against me? Do you really *munch* think you can just *munch* walk in here with dango and *munch* that I would forgive you, just like that? Well let me tell you something! *Munch* You can *munch* take your *munch* dango and *munch* shove it!"

Naruto sweat dropped throughout her whole speech. _I wonder if she realised she was eating the dango while saying all of that. _"Well I would but you kinda already ate it all, Anko-chan." Naruto said as he pointed at the bag with three skewers in it.

Anko looked at the bag and noticed that it was indeed devoid of those delicious chocolate covered dumplings. She quickly grew angry once again. "See what you did? I ate all the dango in anger and didn't even get to savour any of them!"

"I-I'm sorry?" Naruto held up his hands in defense.

Anko just sighed in exasperation and went to go sit on the couch. "Why are you here Naruto?"

"Well I wasn't actually expecting you to be here since I was only coming to get a scroll I left here. I was out looking for you since I didn't see you all day and I guess that I was right thinking that you were still mad at me, so on my way here I stopped to pick you up some dango for when I saw you tomorrow. Anyway the woman who worked there explained to me why you might be mad at me since I was actually confused." Naruto said.

"Did she now?" Anko said in a dismissive tone.

"Yeah, and I think I should explain what happened with Hinata." Anko growled and reached for her kunai once again. "Wait just let me explain!" Naruto said quickly.

"You have two minutes. If I don't like what I hear, the neighbors won't like what they hear." Anko said as she narrowed her eyes dangerously on him.

Naruto gulped and regained him composure. "Well before you showed up, there were some guys pushing Hinata around but not really doing anything. Then one guy was getting ready to punch her so I lunged at him and hit him with a **Viper Strike **and he was out. The next guy rushed me and I got him with the same thing. I told the third guy to beat it and then I helped Hinata up, then I think that's when you showed up." Naruto explained.

"I'm not mad that you helped or even met her..." Anko dropped her head and her voice became quieter but Naruto was still able to make it out with his advanced hearing. "...I'm mad at how you looked at her."

Now Naruto was even more confused than before. "The way... I looked at her?"

"You didn't even notice did you?" Anko asked in her quiet voice. In the dark, Naruto wasn't able to see the drops of liquid fall from her face.

"Notice what?" Naruto asked as he cautiously took a few steps towards her.

"THE WAY YOU LOOKED AT HER!" Anko shouted as her head shot up, and Naruto was now able to see the tears. "It was the same look you only ever gave me before..."

"Anko... I really don't know what you mean, I didn't know that I looked at you or her any different from anyone else." Naruto said as he sat next to her.

"Naruto... what am I to you?"

"Huh?"

"What do you think of me as?"

"Well you're my first and best friend Anko-chan."

"So that's all I am to you? A friend?"

"What do you mean? What else would you be? You're my first girlfriend and even if Hinata is a girlfriend too that doesn't mean that I'm just going to stop being yours."

Anko's eye twitched as she realised something. _Is he really that dense or does he actually not know what a girlfriend is? _"Naruto-kun, you know what a girlfriend is right?"

"Yeah a girl who is a friend right? Just because I have a new girlfriend doesn't mean you have to be jealous or anything."

Anko chuckled lightly and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve. "Naru-chan, sometimes you can be such an idiot."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted before crossing his arms and pouting. "I'm not an idiot."

"Yeah you are," She then leaned over and hugged him. "but you're my idiot." Anko whispered in his ear and she continued to hold on to him.

Naruto was about to defend himself but let it go and just hugged her back. "So you aren't mad at me anymore, Anko-chan?"

"No Naru, but I need to actually explain to you what a girlfriend is." Anko said as she pulled back. "Do you remember when you first said I was your girlfriend?"

"Uh... it was the day we met and went to Ichiraku's right?" Naruto asked as he raked his brain.

"Yes. I remember Ayame saying that she was going to explain to you what a girlfriend was but I interrupted her. I assumed that you really knew this whole time because of how you look at me and how comfortable we are around each other." Anko said she placed her left palm on his cheek and traced his whisker marks with her thumb.

"Well yeah, you're my best friend so I trust you more than even sensei." Naruto said as he looked into her puffy eyes.

Anko nodded slowly with a small smile. "You're my best friend too Naru... well my only friend, but if I had others you would still be the best." She said with a grin. "But a girlfriend is different from a regular friend who happens to be a girl."

"How so?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Well a girlfriend or boyfriend is someone you do things together that you usually don't do with anyone else." Anko answered.

"Like what?" Naruto asked, his curious nature taking over again.

"Well... like holding hands,"

"But we already do that."

"That's because I thought you were already my boyfriend." Anko giggled lightly. "And there is also kissing." She said with a light blush.

"What's a kiss?"

Anko smirked as opportunity reared It's head. "You don't know what a kiss is either? Well instead of telling you, let me show you!" She leaned in an gave him a kiss on his whiskered cheek.

Naruto wasn't sure but he felt his cheeks heat up slightly as she did that. "Oh."

"Oh? *giggle* Is that all you have to say?" Anko said while still holding her smirk.

"Well..." Naruto quick as a snake met her cheek with his lips and returned the favor. "I'd rather show you than tell you." He whispered with a smirk of his own, knowing she was messing with him and resolving to get back at her.

Anko was stunned as her cheeks flared up for a moment before she processed what he said and she turned to the blonde haired boy pouting. "Quit teasing, Naru-chan."

Naruto grinned for a moment before becoming serious again. "So... what does this mean?"

"That depends, Naru. Do you want me as your real girlfriend... or do you just want to stay friends?" Anko started with a shimmer of hope before looking down at the floor.

"Well you are a girl, and you are my best friend so... sure?" Naruto said remembering what he answered the year before.

Anko looked up to his smiling face and tackled him to the floor with a hug. "You may be an idiot but you will always be my idiot." Anko whispered as she held him tighter.

"He he..." Naruto gave out a small chuckle before trying to sit up. "Come on Anko-chan, let's go to sleep I'm kinda tired and I bet you are too."

"Ok Naru." Anko whispered as she got off of him, "But now that we're dating, don't tell anyone that we sleep together... they might get the wrong idea." She said with a wink as she led him to the bedroom by hand.

"What could they possibly think we would be doing other than sleeping?" Naruto asked, his curious side acting up again.

Anko giggled again before turning towards him with wide grin. "Don't worry, I'll show you when we're ready Naru."

* * *

**AN - **Oh Anko-chan, you little tease! Even with a demon enhanced mind he's still dense.

I can haz teh reveiws? Plox? Anyway you know the deal, tell me if you like it or not and in the meantime I'm going to go play Diablo!

**_~Shadowfox_**


	9. Happy Birthday!

**AN - **This chapter is longer than usual since I added pieces here in there when I wasn't playing D3 or doing something else throughout the week rather than just right it all in one sitting like usual. I could have just cut it up into shorter chapters but I they way it was going I decided just to keep the 'Birthday' theme and roll with it as a filler chap. Anyway Read, Enjoy, and Review please!

**Disclaimer - **Last time on Disclaimer Z! Our hero Shadowfox had eluded capture from the serpentine women and continued his journey along the Snake Way. What enemies will he face? What perils will he endure? What copyrights will he own? Not Naruto's that's for sure! Tune in next time for Disclaimer Z!

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: IX**

"What could they possibly think we would be doing other than sleeping?" Naruto asked, his curious side acting up again.

Anko giggled again before turning towards him with wide grin. "Don't worry, I'll show you when we're ready Naru."

Naruto was confused again but just shrugged and figured he would just find out when Anko thought they were ready... whatever that meant.

**xXx**

_**(Timeskip 8 months)**_

"Wake up Naru-chan! Wake up, wake up, wake up WAKE UP!" Anko cried as she hopped up and down on the bed.

"Huh... uh what? Anko-chan, what's wrong? Are we out of dango again?" Naruto asked in his drowsy state.

Anko just huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "It's not always about dango..."

"Just most of the time, right?"

"You make it sound as is I was addicted to the stuff."

"Aren't you?" Naruto asked still half asleep.

"No! I can stop eating dango at any time, I just don't want to." Anko replied with a grin. "Now get your butt out of bed and make me some food!"

Naruto groaned. "Anko... you know how hard sensei was on us yesterday, how can you of all people even be awake at this hour?"

"It's three in the afternoon, Naru." Anko said with a sweatdrop.

"..." Naruto just laid there for a moment. "...I see."

"And Oro-sensei was only pissed at you, I had normal training but was just playing along."

Naruto just grumbled about favouritism and vindictive snakes. "Whatever, just let me sleep for a while longer Anko-chan." Naruto pulled the covers over himself and flipped over on the bed so his back was to Anko.

"Oh no you don't! **Hidden Shadow Snakes!**" Anko used her snakes to pick-up Naruto and toss him off the bed.

Naruto hit face first against the wall and slowly slid down before falling to the floor. "Ok... I'm awake, but now I have a splitting headache. Thanks Anko-chan."

Anko walked over and stroked him hair. "Aww my poor Naru, let me kiss it and make it better." She said with a grin before kissing his forehead. "Now seriously get up. I'm hungry and It's your turn to cook. And make a lot too, I skipped breakfast because you were still asleep."

Naruto rubbed his head and stood up. "Alright Anko-chan, just let me get showered first."

Anko grew a lecherous grin on her face. "I still need to take one after working out this morning, maybe we can save time by taking one... together?" Her grin was threatening to split her face in half.

"Ummmm... no." Naruto deadpanned.

"Oh come on! I can wash your back for you!"

"I can do that myself."

"What about the hard to reach spot between your shoulder blades?"

"Clone."

Anko huffed. "You're no fun."

"And I've learned that you're a pervert."

"You say that like It's a bad thing." Anko's grin returning.

"Isn't it?"

"Oh Naru, you can be so naïve sometimes. You see everyone is perverted to an extent, or else there wouldn't be babies. It's just there are some people, like me who are more comfortable with being open about it. You I peg for more of a closet perv, you'll say being perverted is wrong but deep down you are just as if not more perverted than the average person. You just deny, deny, and deny, but at the first sign of anything perverse you fly off in a geyser of blood."

"Whatever." Naruto said dismissively. "I'll be out in ten and then I'll make us lunch." He said as he walked into the bathroom.

"Ok Naru-chan, I'll be waiting!"

After his morning rituals, Naruto made lunch and they were talking as they ate.

"So what are we doing today?" Anko asked as she took a bite out of her sandwich.

"I was planning on working on my Mamba Kata and then heading out to training ground 32 to practice water walking."

"That's a great idea! Let's go practice our taijutsu while water walking. And you'll end up soaking wet because I'll keep knocking you down!" Anko said with her normal grin.

"Sounds like a challenge to me Anko-chan."

"It's not a challenge if I'm going easy on you." She teased.

"Oh, It's on now." Naruto said as he ran to their room. He walked out a minute later wearing shorts and a muscle shirt. "We'll see who gets who wet."

Anko's grin grew lecherous again. "A couple more years and I'm sure you will know that answer."

"What?"

"Nothing." She said innocently.

"Whatever, let's just go."

"I hope you'll be this anxious to get me wet in the future." Her grin growing steadily.

"...You're being perverted again aren't you?"

"Maybe." She said innocently as interlocked her hands behind her back.

Naruto just sighed in exasperation and they left the Pit. The day after Naruto agreed to be her boyfriend eight months ago he went to see the Hokage and ask him what he was feeling.

The aged Hokage was rather shocked that Naruto held feelings this strong being how young he was, but explained it to him nonetheless. He also told him to avoid being like his white-haired student, and left it at that.

**xXx**

The two had reached the training ground and had been at it for thirty minutes now.

Anko coughed a few times before standing up from her kneeling position on the water. "Tired yet, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto was leaning on his knees but seemed better off. "Nope *cough* you know I can go for hours."

Anko licked her lips. "Oh I'm counting on it."

"Perv." Naruto said as he rushed her with an arm cocked back.

"Come and get it, baby!" Anko said as she got into her stance.

Naruto stopped mid run and stood completely still, as he stared right at her unblinking. Anko found out after her first few spars with him that he did this to unnerve you into attacking first so he could have the advantage of the counterattack.

"Get over here and fight me like a man!" Anko shouted from her side of the lake.

Naruto just continued to stare at her, not blinking or showing any signs of life.

"ARGH! SCREW IT!" Anko in her irritation rushed forward. She knew that she was playing right into his trap but also knew that he wouldn't make the first move if it was an open fight. Naruto only ever made the first move in an ambush situation where he could surprise you and quickly overwhelm you, otherwise he would fall into the defensive version of his style consisting of hit and run tactics forcing his enemies to go to him and fight under his conditions. _The bastard... screw him and his mind games! _"Take this! **Viper Strike!**" Anko aimed one of her hands to hit a nerve on the neck that would knock him out.

Naruto ducked and went for a left hook to her unprotected right side, she jumped back and to her surprise Naruto was on her once again. In her small shock she was too slow to react as he grabbed her left and with his left and drove a knuckle fist to her unprotected ribs. She was stunned for a moment and he capitalized on her pain by pulling her forward. "** Roku-Mahikajiru! (Six Paralyzing Bites)**" Naruto bent back his middle and index fingers like fangs as he covered them in chakra, before hitting six trigger points on her back. Four near her shoulders and neck and two by her hips. Anko soon felt her body go as heavy as concrete before numbing over. She was unable to keep the flow of chakra going to her feet and fell into the water.

"Anko!" Naruto let his chakra drop and dove down after her. Anko was starting to panic since she couldn't move her arms or legs and was sinking to the bottom of the lake, but to her relief she felt someone grab her by the waist and swim upwards.

Naruto used his chakra to climb on top of the water and ran towards the shore. Naruto laid her on her back as he tried to remember what to do when someone was drowning. _Oh... right. _Naruto opened her mouth and pinched her nose, he had a small blush but forced it down.

Meanwhile Anko was aware of what was happening, but her whole body was still paralyzed from Naruto's attack. Her eyes were closed but she felt Naruto open her mouth and pinch on down on her nose. _Naru..._

Naruto then started breathing air into Anko, much to her delight. Anko wasn't actually drowning and the reason for her not moving was due to being paralyzed but she wasn't complaining, and luckily for Naruto that was the only thing keeping Anko from mouth-raping him.

Naruto leaned back and saw that Anko's eyes were open, and a weak smile was on her face.

"Anko! Are you OK?" Naruto asked in concern.

"Can't... move..." Anko said weakly.

"Oh right!" Naruto said as gently moved her on her side and released the pressure points.

"Naru... chan... my... hero." Anko managed out as she tried and failed to move.

"Anko-chan, I'm sorry! I forgot we were on water and that it would stop you from using chakra on you feet." Naruto said as he wrapped a towel around her as a blanket. Naruto ran some chakra through the special towel and it heated up.

"It was... worth it." She replied with a small smile.

"Just rest for a bit Anko-chan, you should start getting some feeling back in your limbs in about twenty minutes. Might need to wait until tomorrow to have control though." Naruto told her.

"Ok Naruto-kun." She said with a nod. Within a few minutes she fell asleep under the warmth of the heated towel. Naruto just smiled as let her continue her nap as he laid down next to her looked up at the clouds.

Naruto didn't even know when it happened but apparently he dozed off as well as it was night now and Anko was still asleep next to him. Naruto turned over and tried to shake her awake. Her eyes fluttered open seconds later. "Hi, Naruto-kun."

"Have a nice nap, Anko-chan?" Naruto said with a smirk.

"Mmm-hmm." Anko hummed as she wrapped an arm around him.

"Time to get up Anko-chan, you can go back to sleep when we get home."

"Huh?" It was at that moment that she noticed that it was dark out and that she was laying on grass.

"Can you move at all?" Naruto asked.

Anko was able to move her arms slightly but felt a tingling sensation when she tried. Like when your arms feel all tingly when someone falls asleep on them. "I still can't Naru."

"Guess I'll just carry you them." Naruto made a mud clone and had it load Anko on his back. "Ready Anko-chan?"

"Yeah... let's go home Naru-chan." Anko said as wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his.

"Ok hold on." Naruto said as they jumped through the trees and headed back towards the Snake Pit.

Although it was night out, Naruto was thankful that the henge he put on this morning to hide his whisker marks and make his hair color black was still active. Who knows what someone might have done if they recognized him and caught him sleeping outside.

Fifteen minutes later they entered they entered the hideout and Naruto set Anko down on the bed before heading into the bathroom for a quick shower.

In the meantime Anko summoned her favorite viper named Yoruhebi. She is a large night adder who is ten feet in length.

"What can I do for you misssstresss?" Yoruhebi asked.

"Hey Yoru-chan, sorry to ask this of you but I can't really move my body right now so think you can give me a ride to the fridge? I have something I'm hiding in there." Anko whispered to the snake.

"Of course, missstressss." Yoruhebi said before wrapping her body around the girl and making her way towards the kitchen.

Anko opened the door and pulled out a frosted cupcake that was hidden in the back. Then asked the snake to move towards the counter where she pulled out two objects from one of the drawers. "Ok Yoru-chan, back to the room."

The snake nodded and slithered It's way back to the bed where it dropped off Anko. "Will that be all missstresss?"

"Yes, thank you Yoru-chan." Anko said as she gave the snake a kiss on the nose. The snake bowed It's head and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Five minutes later Naruto walked out with black pajamas. Anko stuck something in cupcake and waited for Naruto get closer before turning over.

"You're still awake Anko-chan? I thought you would have been back asleep by now." Naruto said as he sat down on the bed.

"I am a bit tired but," Anko took out the second item and opened it to reveal a flame, which she used to light the candle on top of the cupcake. "happy birthday Naru." She handed him the cupcake and kissed him on the cheek.

"I... I don't know what to say?" Naruto said as he looked at the cupcake.

"Just blow out the candle and make a wish. I'm sorry we didn't celebrate your birthday last year, but by the time I asked it had already passed." Anko said.

"Hehe, thank you Anko-chan." Naruto blew out the candle and took a bite out of the cupcake. It was a little cold but still tasted better than any other he's ever had for some reason. "Speaking of which, your birthday is in two weeks. Any thoughts on what you want?"

Anko's birthday was October 24th which Naruto's was on the 10th so when Anko's birthday rolled around they went out and celebrated it. Anko had asked when his birthday was and he told her it was two weeks before. She was a little mad that he didn't tell her but after he said that he's never celebrated it before since it was when the villagers were madder than usual he saw no reason to bring it up. He also mentioned that when they met the year before when he was four that it was his birthday which was why he was being hunted down. Anko grew sad for a moment but resolved to celebrate it next year.

"I dunno, but that doesn't matter right now. So whatcha wish for?" Anko asked as she sat up on her knees.

"Can't tell you remember, or else it won't come true." Naruto said with a grin. "I'm going to drive myself crazy now trying to think of something to get you, hehe."

"Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll love whatever you get me." Anko said as she rubbed the pendant on the simple rope that he gave her last year. It was her first birthday present ever, so Anko decided to never take it off.

"OK, well I'll be sure to get you something real nice." Naruto said with a grin as he was down to one bite of his cupcake. "Want the last piece?" He said as he held it out for her.

"Sure, but you have to feed it to me." Anko grinned before opening her mouth.

Naruto chuckled and placed the last piece of the chocolate cupcake on her tongue. "Good night Anko-chan."

"Night, Naru-kun." Anko draped her right arm and leg over him as she snuggled into his back.

_**(Two weeks later)**_

Anko's eyes lit up as she saw her present.

"You said it was starting to get cold, and that you wished you had somewhere to hide more kunai so I found it at one of the shinobi clothing stores and took that night. I didn't know if you would like it since It's a little big for you but I figured you would grow into it and you could wear it for longer that way." Naruto said with a smile.

Anko rushed over to her boyfriend and gave him a big hug before kissing him on the cheek. "It's perfect, Naru-chan!"

"Well then? Try it on." Naruto said with a small laugh.

Anko nodded and put on the tan trench coat. It had multiple hidden pockets inside as well as a few in the sleeves. Indeed it was rather big on her since it went down to her ankles and her were completely hidden but she just folded back the sleeves and smiled. "I love it, Naru."

"Well that's good, I didn't want to end up having to return it after stealing it hehe. That would have been really awkward." Naruto said jokingly.

"Come on, let's go see if we can find Hina-chan." Anko said.

* * *

After clearing up the little misunderstanding with Naruto, Anko looked for Hinata and told her that she could be friends with him but also made it very clear that Naruto was hers. Hinata nodded sadly but said she would like to be friends with them, since she doesn't have any.

Occasionally the three would hang out, have lunch, or sometimes train together. The first few times Naruto would be in his ninja gear with his black face mask, but one day he showed up henged without the whiskers and with black hair and eyes. Hinata asked why he was henged and he just said that some people didn't like him so this way they wouldn't bug him. Hinata looked concerned but didn't say anything and just nodded.

Hinata had gotten stronger through her training with her new friends and it was noted by her father after she defeated Hanabi in a spar three months ago. Hiashi noticed that Hinata didn't move in the traditional Juken style but flowed around. Almost like a snake or running water.

When Naruto and Anko started sparring with Hinata they noticed that she was naturally graceful and could swerve, dodge, and turn directions smoothly like a snake. Anko was jealous but figured that she might as well help her and maybe some day she could sign the snake contract and they could all be placed on a three-man squad with Orochimaru as the sensei.

Naruto had mentioned that Hinata reminded him of the Hydrophis, or sea snakes. He told them to follow him to his apartment where he kept a salt water tank and he could summon one so Hinata could see it.

Once there Naruto summoned a Belcher's sea snake into the tank. Hinata was amazed. The snake was light blue with black bands and what looked like a paddle for a tail. Naruto explained that it has one of the most if not the most toxic venom of all the snakes, however it was mostly friendly unless provoked.

Naruto said that if Hinata was willing to feed it then she could keep the snake at his apartment. Hinata agreed and asked what they ate, as soon as they said shellfish Hinata regretted her decision but was determined to make her friends proud since they were willing to help her.

After a few months of studying the snake and incorporating It's movements into her Juken through sparring and practice she was finally able to finally beat Hanabi in a spar. Hiashi was shocked for a moment but didn't compliment her, since she should have always been able to defeat her younger sister.

Hinata had a downcast look, but resolved to become even stronger to earn her father's approval. Hinata was able to quickly pick-up the tree and water walking techniques due to her clan's near perfect chakra control.

One day when they were having a 3-way spar on the water Hinata got close to winning because she figured out a way make her chakra act like skates and was able to move faster on it. Since that day they could usually find her in training ground 32 practicing her Juken while skating.

* * *

Naruto agreed and they walked towards training ground 32, the most likely place to find Hinata. "If she's not there then she might be at the apartment feeding Taisei-chan or at the desert shop getting cinnamon rolls."

"Hopefully she's at the shop, I could go for some choco-dango." Anko said with hope.

"Do you want choco-dango instead of a cake tonight?" Naruto asked.

Anko used the puppy eye jutsu with added pout and asked, "Can't I have both Naru-kun?"

Naruto just chuckled and nodded. "Sure, why not?"

"Look!" Anko pointed at a figure that looked to be dancing on the water. "HINA-CHAN!"

Said girl lost control for a moment before resuming a flow of chakra to her feet, her left leg still managed to get soaked however. Anko snickered as though she planned it.

"Anko-chan be nice." Naruto chided her.

She huffed. "Fine."

"Morning Hinata-chan." Naruto greeted.

"Good morning Naruto-kun, Anko-chan." Hinata replied.

"Hey, Hina-chan! Training again, eh?" Anko had taken to calling Hinata Hina since Naruto did the first time to annoy them.

"Of course, how else am I going to beat you and earn Naruto-kun's affection over you?" The old Hinata would have never said anything so bold but the newer more confidant Hinata started stating her intentions clearly after they started sparring together. Also Anko's mannerism had started to rub off on her.

"Alright calm down girls. Hinata we wanted to know if you wanted to hang out with us today." Naruto said.

"Why, what's going on toda- OH that's right! Anko-chan, happy birthday!" Hinata said with a smile as she walked towards the water's edge.

"Thanks Hina-chan, you get me anything?" Anko asked with a cross between a smirk and a grin.

"You mean besides a beating? Yeah, I made you some of my special medical cream. You're going to need it." Hinata said returning a smirk hidden within her usual sweet smile. She pulled up the small container and tossed it at the other girl.

"Well aren't you confident? Do you really think you can beat me this time?" Anko asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"I don't think, I know. And beating you on your birthday? That will just make victory so much sweeter." Hinata said in her innocent and sweet voice.

"Kinda creepy that she can say that yet seem so innocent. She could probably tell someone to their face that she killed their puppy and they would feel sorry that she had to go through that." Naruto said aloud.

"Fine but It's my birthday so we're fighting on land not water." Anko said a smirk.

"If it will mean that you have no excuses after I destroy you, then so be it." Hinata's sickeningly sweet voice said.

"Well come on then princess, I ain't got all day! I still have a date later with my man and I don't have time to waste making you good friends with the dirt." Anko said as she slipped into her Viper stance.

Naruto just sighed and walked off to the side. He knew this was going to happen anyway, it always did.

"Ready when you are." Hinata said as she dropped into her modified Juken stance.

Naruto had taken out a cup of ramen and filled it with the water from the lake before using a weak Katon jutsu to heat up his index finger which he stuck in the cut to heat up the water. "Might as well have a snack since they'll be at for a while."

Anko and Hinata had been at it for twenty minutes and Hinata was beginning to tire.

"Well you're never going to win like that, princess. I'm barely winded and you look like you're ready to give out any minute now." Anko taunted but even with her evasive skills, Hinata had been able to close down a few tenketsu in her arms and she had lost a lot of power behind her hits.

"Looks like It's going to be another tie. I'm too tired to finish you off, and you don't have the strength to beat me now." Hinata said, her stance getting sloppy and her Byakugan starting to become expensive on her limited chakra reserves.

"Tch. That's what you think!" Anko ran at Hinata and the other girl did the same.

"**Viper Strike!**" Anko roared.

"**Serpent Sting!**" Hinata screamed.

Hinata's dropped like a pile of bricks as Anko pinched the nerve on her neck, while Anko's eyes glazed over from the Juken strike to her neck causing her to faint from a sudden drop in blood pressure.

"And they are outta here!" Naruto said in a bored tone as he walked over to the two unconscious girls. He leaned both against a tree and laid down in between them to take a nap until they come around.

By the time they all woke up the sun had already set and it was around 8 o'clock.

"Aww!" Anko whined.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked as she sat up.

"I missed my entire date with Naru because of you Hyuuga!" Anko said with visible annoyance.

"It's not my faut you ran into my serpent sting, Mitarashi." Hinata rebuked.

"Wanna say that to my face you princess?" Anko said as she balled a fist in front of her. (Here we go again...)

"I would but I'm afraid if I look at it I might turn to stone! I can practically see the snakes coming out of that purple palm tree you call hair." Hinata shot back. (Burn...)

"Oh you're making fun of my hair? At least mine doesn't make me look like a boy! Naru-kun would be too embarrassed walking around with you, since they might think he swings for the other team!" (Yeah, I don't want anyone thinking that...)

"Embarrassed to walk around with me? At least I have class and don't make a sex joke at every possible chance." Hinata stated smugly. (Yeah maybe you should cut down on those Anko...)

"That just means I'm comfortable with myself unlike you, little miss hides behind a sweater!" Anko returned. (Is that the reason for the sweater? I always thought you were just cold...)

"At least I wear something, if it weren't for that mini-skirt and trench coat you could be classified at naked!" Hinata replied. (...Naked...)

"Yeah well I bet Naru would prefer to see me naked instead of your skinny ass!" Anko stated with a smirk. (...pervy thoughts... must... banish them...)

"I'm not skinny, you're just FAT!" Hinata shouted. (Oh Hina... no...)

Anko started leaking killing intent as she was attempting to glare a hole into the other girl's forehead, and to Hinata's credit she wasn't backing down but it did look like a drop of sweat went down the side of her face. "I'm going to kill you, slowly... and painfully." Anko said with a smile and in the sweetest voice she could muster as her left eye started twitching violently.

"Hinata-chan, maybe you should run." Naruto suggested as he started to back up himself.

"U-Umm... perhaps I did go a bit too far. I-I" She was interrupted as Anko roared and lunged at her. "I'll see you later Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted as she ran as fast as she could back to the Hyuuga compound.

"GET BACK HERE YOU PALE-EYED BIMBO!" Anko shouted as she chased after Hinata.

"And to think they're best friends..." Naruto sweat dropped as he chased after the enraged Anko to try to placate her.

_**(December 27th)**_

Naruto and Anko were walking through the cold winter morning heading towards their friend's home.

"So what did you get Hinata, Anko-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Something special that's only between us girls so you can't know." Anko answered. "What did you get her?"

"They said It's going to be really cold this winter so I got her a lavender scarf. Apparently It's made from special material that will keep warm when It's cold out and store the cold for when It's too hot out. Never guessed they would ever invent yearlong scarves, but there you go." Naruto said with a shrug as he looked at his wrapped up box.

Hinata was just walking out of her compound at that moment and she spotted her friends walking to the gates. "Good morning Naruto-kun, Anko-chan." She said with a wave.

"Morning Hinata-chan." Naruto replied.

"What's good about it, princess?" Anko asked in her usual snarky tone. "It's colder than hell on the day that Naru picks you over me."

"You just needed to get your daily jab in right?" Hinata asked with a slight smile.

"Yeah, I'm good now." Anko said with a grin.

"Anyway, happy birthday Hinata-chan!" Naruto said as he handed her the box.

"Oh thank you so much, Naru-kun!" Hinata said as she gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Secretly she activated her bloodline and smirked when she saw her rival's eye twitch slightly.

"Alright, alright, get your pampered hands off my man!" Anko said as she pried the bluenette off of Naruto.

"It's every day with you two isn't it?" Naruto said in an exasperated tone. "It would be easier to just not date either of you." Both girls paled for a moment. "Or maybe date both of you... nah, neither would definitely be less of a hassle." He said with a dismissive wave as he started walking off.

Both Anko and Hinata grew wide-eyed at his retreating form. They looked at each other for the briefest of moment before nodding, each knowing what the other silently asked. It was both of them or neither of them. Besides sharing is caring... right?

* * *

**Jutsu List:**

_Custom Jutsu-_

**Viper Strike - **A pinch to a nerve in the neck. When used will instantly cause the target to loose consciousness. Based off of the vulcan nerve pinch.

**Roku-Mahikajiru (Hopefully translates to - Six Paralyzing bites) **- Naruto covers his index and middle fingers in chakra and seperates them to resemble snake fangs. (Similar to the Juken in that it uses chakra to hit internal parts, except it attacks nerves rather than tenketsu) Naruto uses his four fingers to hit four nerves at once and then put's his fingers together to resemble a bent tiger sign and strikes two points on the enemies hips.

**Serpent Sting - **A Juken strike to the neck that hits a pressure point rather than a tenketsu. If hit correctly, will cause a sudden drop in blood pressure to the victim's brain shutting down all function until they stabilize.

**Mamba Kata - **What I'm going to call Naruto's Black Mamba Taijutsu style. Rather than the Frog Kata that he would have learned.

** Ultimatum no Jutsu - **What that sly fox, Naruto used at the end there. His subtle 'Get along or I'm cutting you both off' won that fight I think.

_Canon Jutsu-_

**Poison Mist Jutsu - **User expells a fog of poison from their mouth. Anko's causes rapid death, while Naruto's causes fast acting paralasis and then slow, painful death.

**Hidden Shadow Snakes - **User summons snakes from their sleeves for various purposes. Anko is able to call up 4 regular snakes in each arm or 3 vipers in each arm. Naruto can call 4 regular snakes in each arm or 2 black mambas in each arm.

* * *

**AN - **Hope you guys enjoyed it, personally I had a bit of fun with Anko and Hinata's back and forth. And before you say anything about Hinata being too OOC, I know she is, I'm the one that wrote her that way and It's for a future reason. I needed to make her more willing to do less socially acceptable things like have a word fight and slowly ease her into other less than honorable things.

**PS -** Don't expect all of the chapters to be nearly this long, I just had some good luck whenever I sat down and added to this chapter.

**PPS - **In case you got confused or something, Naruto and Hinata are now 6 and Anko is 8. Naruto's mind however is that of an 11 year old due to the Kyuubi's influence.


	10. A Dark Path Ahead

**AN - **Yo, Shadowfox here! It's my day off and I had some time this morning so I wrote this up!

**Disclaimer - **Last time on Disclaimer Z! Our hero Shadowfox was travelling on the Serpent Road in search of Kami-sama. He stood frozen as he looked up at the giant castle like structure at the end of the road. Could it be? Has our hero reached Kami-sama's location? Will he own Naruto? Probably not but be sure to tune in next time for **DISCLAIMER Z**!

* * *

"Normal speech"

'Quotes or emphasis'

**Jutsu, Kyuubi, or scene change**

_Thoughts_

* * *

**A Gift and a Curse: X**

Naruto had just roused out of bed, Anko still sound asleep. "Food..." Was his lone thought as he walked out into the kitchen.

Naruto started on a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon as he remembered what today was. "Anko-chan starts the academy today... hehe she could probably walk in take the test and be a genin by lunch time if it weren't for that two-year thing." Before the third shinobi world war, if someone was skilled enough they could skip the academy and join the ninja corps. After all the young deaths during the third war however, the Sandaime made a law that anyone who wishes to become a ninja would have to attend two years of the academy to give new recruits a chance to ready themselves before being thrown into the shinobi world.

"Food..." Naruto smiled when he heard a voice groan from the hallway.

"Hungry Anko-chan?" Naruto chuckled at her nod before she plopped herself on a chair and laid her head down on the table. "They'll be done in a few minutes."

"Naru?" Anko started.

"Hmm?"

"How did you get so good at cooking? Not too long ago you could barely get near a the stove without the risk of setting the warehouse on fire." Anko asked drowsily.

"Practice, and on some of my walks I would henge and watch cooks in the restaurants prepare meals." Naruto said with a shrug.

"On your next outting scope out the dango guy so you can make me some whenever I want." The still sleepy Anko said.

"Already know how, I'm just not good at making them yet." Naruto replied.

"Aww."

Naruto pulled out two dishes from the cupboard and loaded them up their breakfast before walking over to the table and setting them down. "Want milk, juice, or water Anko-chan?" Naruto asked as he opened the fridge.

"I need something to wake me up." Anko groaned.

"Bluebull or Popstar?" Naruto asked as he held up a red and white can in one hand and a shimmering can with a star on it in the other.

"Give me the popstar... it looks frilly but man does it wake you up." Anko said.

Naruto nodded before getting a water out for himself. "What time does the academy start?" He asked.

"Uhh... 9 I think." Anko said as she scratched her head.

"It's going to get boring just training by myself all day..." Naruto said as he sat down and handed Anko the energy drink.

"Aww is Naru going to miss having his Anko-chan around?" Anko teased.

Naruto just gave her a blank stare before a small smile formed on his lips. "Perhaps but I can probably get Hina-chan to train with me and that way it will just be us two... alone... all day, while you're nowhere in sight."

Anko's eyes narrowed for a moment before she let out a smirk. "Thinking about corrupting little Hina-chan are we? I know we said that we would share you but come on she's six you little pervert." Her smirk having formed into a grin.

"HEY! I'm no pervert, the sharing thing was you guys' idea not mine and if anyone here is a pervert It's you for even thinking that."

"You may not have outright said it but you did suggest it," Anko said with her devious grin. "and I'm not a pervert I just have a playful disposition." She purred.

"I never suggested that! The opposite in fact, by not dating either of you." Naruto defended.

"Trust me you said it. In fact you basically told us it was either both of us or neither. I didn't want to lose you and Hinata wanted to get with you so honestly it was an easy fix. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather not have to share you and neither would Hinata but we had to make the compromise." Anko said as she took a bite out of her scrambled eggs.

"Eh?" Naruto said with all the intelligence he could muster.

"I'll tell you what happened." Anko as she stabbed a piece of bacon with her fork.

_**(Flashback 2 Months Ago)**_

"It's every day with you two isn't it? It would be easier to just not date either of you. Or maybe date both of you... nah, neither would definitely be less of a hassle."

Anko's eyes widened at the thought of Naruto breaking up with her. She turned to Hinata and noticed the look in her eyes at the prospect of never have the chance to date him. Hinata turned to Anko and saw the same look in her eyes before they nodded.

As Naruto walked off towards the Pit, Anko and Hinata were walking in the opposite direction. "It seems like Naruto-kun has given us an ultimatum." Hinata spoke first.

Anko grumbled as she crossed her arms. "Can you believe that baka has the nerve to do that?" She groused.

"While I would rather not have to share Naruto-kun with you, I would prefer that over not having the chance to be with him at all." Hinata said.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" Anko deadpanned. "I'm his girlfriend, I should be the one saying that I don't want to share him with YOU not the other freaking way around." She said with a tick forming on her forehead.

"Please, it would have only been a matter of time before Naruto-kun would have left you for me. I mean why would he want an immature, pervert of a girl when he can have a cultured and sophisticated woman such as myself?" Hinata said with all the Hyuuga stuck-upittyness she could rile up.

Anko's eye started twitching before a sadistic grin spread across her face. "Keep at it princess... see what happens to you!"

"Straight to violence? Such a barbaric mentality is exactly why Naruto-kun deserves a woman like me and not some child with anger issues." Hinata said as she raised her nose at the other girl.

"Just keep at it princess, and I'll make sure to find you a nice tower and lock your ass up before feeding the key to one of my snakes." Anko threatened.

"I would merely scale down the wall using my chakra." Hinata said smugly.

"Then I would have broken both of your legs and arms before I left." Anko returned.

"That's if clumsy old you could even catch me in the first place. My natural grace makes you look like a bull in a china shop and you know it." Hinata said with a grin.

Anko was starting to get pissed now. "That's it! You and me training ground 32, right now!" She growled out.

"Very well, and after I'm finished with you I'll go to Naruto-kun and show him that I'm the right choice." Hinata said.

**Training Ground 32**

"Well since It's my birthday, we're fighting on the water this time." Hinata said with a smirk.

"What water? There's only ice." Anko said as she looked at the frozen lake.

"Fine with me." Hinata said as she added her chakra blades to her feet and started skating around. "Yup works just fine."

"Ah, crap..." Anko cursed under he breath as she stepped out on the ice, using her chakra to keep herself from slipping.

Hinata wasted no time and sped towards Anko, who barely dodged the Juken strike for her shoulder. "You sneaky bitch."

"Vulgar troll."

Anko's anger was reaching boiling point as she cracked her knuckles. "I'm going to break that pretty little face of yours so bad not even the entire Hyuuga bank account will have enough to fix it."

"Let's see you try." Hinata said as she dropped down into her modified Juken stance.

Anko narrowed her eyes before smirking and doing some quick handseals. "**Katon: Fireball Jutsu!**" A medium-sized fireball roared to life as it sped towards Hinata who in turn made her own handseals.

"**Suiton: Mouth of the Serpent!**" A stream of water shout out of the ice and formed into a snake that swallowed the fireball before turning to into a thick steam cloud. "**Byakugan!**" Hinata was now able to clearly see Anko in the haze.

"How do you know that jutsu?" Anko called out, having never known that Hinata knew elemental techniques.

"Naruto-kun taught it to me a few days after we learned I had a water affinity." Hinata's voice spoke from the mist.

"Hmph." Anko needed to find a way out of this steam and fast. With Hinata's byakugan she was able to see just fine while Anko was a sitting duck.

"You're done for." Hinata's voice said as a she zipped in and out of the fog, landing a few Juken strikes during her passes.

"Time to get serious." She made three handseals before calling out "**Katon: Flare Jutsu!**" She shot a bright light out of her mouth directly into the sky, illuminating the cold morning and raising the visibility.

Hinata skated around Anko as she did the Ox, Horse, and Ram seals. "**Suiton: Cold Sky Water Attack**" She launched a flurry of water darts formed out of the moisture in the air.

"**Katon: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!**" Anko countered the darts with her small fireballs.

"**Suiton: Water Clone Jutsu!**" Hinata made two clones of herself, after making a tiger seal. Said clones rushed forward in the modified Juken stance.

"**Hidden Shadowsnakes!**" Three vipers shout of from each sleeve of her trench coat and struck the clones, making them dispel. "That the best you got princess? At this rate I'll probably just give up out of boredom." Anko taunted.

Hinata just smiled sweetly. "Well ninjutsu was never my strong point. Let's continue this, up close and personal."

Anko licked her lips and grinned widely. "Mmm, just how I like it."

_**(Flashback End)**_

"Then we fought again and it ended in a tie... again. *Sigh* she's too damn fast on the water." Anko admitted.

"Yeah I assumed that's what happened after I left to go get the cinnamon rolls seeing as I found both of you passed out, Hina full of cuts and you having welts everywhere." Naruto said.

"Yeah well I gave Hinata my gift that night and we called a truce. Only me an Hina-chan can have you, any other girl will get stomped if they get within even two feet of you." Anko declared.

Naruto just let out a small laugh. "Well at least you two are getting along. That's something I guess."

"Mmm" Anko agreed as she finished the rest of her breakfast.

"Hey Anko exactly what did you get Hinata for her birthday anyway?"

"I already told you, it was something between us girls."

"Whatever." Naruto said dismissively before he put the dishes in the sink. "Want to have morning spar or are you heading for the academy early?" He asked as he did a few stretches.

"Pfft. Like the academy will keep me from my morning Naru unintentional but secretly intentional groping time." Anko said with a predatory smirk.

"Damn pervert." Naruto said jokingly before jumping into the pit.

"Love you too, closet perv-chan." Anko said before jumping down herself.

**(1 Hour Later)**

Anko had left for the academy a few minutes ago after showering and getting ready. Naruto was walking around the small library they had in the back. Even after being here for two years he had only been inside the library four times and two of those times were to look for water jutsu for Hinata.

"It's a jutsu library I really should have gone in here more. I'm such an idiot..." Naruto grumbled. He thought that it being a library he subconsciously tried to ignore it but again it was a freaking jutsu library that he could have used this whole time to learn new jutsu. "Well no time like the present I guess."

Naruto spent the day looking through the books and scrolls. He had picked out three wind jutsu scrolls that he would work on learning tomorrow but right now he was more interested in a book on sealing. "The book says that sealing is the most difficult jutsu art but I really don't see what is so hard about it. It's like a puzzle that you have to read and connect the dots."

Naruto flipped through a few pages until he came upon a few notes. "Looks like It's one of sensei's experiments." He said as he studies the handwritten notes and research.

Apparently Orochimaru had tried to harness the bloodline of someone named Juugo and succeeded to a degree. From the research, it would allow whoever had this seal access to massive stores of chakra but unlike Juugo they would suffer side-effects due to the foreign enzymes that trigger the bloodline being released into someone who didn't have it.

There was a major flaw in the seal that Orochimaru had made however. It would cause an overload in the person that it was applied to and would kill them instantly by sucking out all of their chakra to power the seal. "I can see the problem in the seal but have no idea how to fix it... if I had training on seal I could probably find a way to fix it. I'll ask Orochimaru sensei when he comes later today."

Naruto continued studying Orochimaru's notes and read that this Juugo could change his form into a partial state or full second state increasing his power and chakra exponentially. He continued to study the notes and then the book on sealing.

**(Later that night)**

Orochimaru-sensei, could I ask you something?" Naruto started cautiously.

"Yes, what is it Naruto-kun?" The pale man asked.

"I found a book on sealing in the library and found some old notes on one of your old experiments based on a boy named Juugo." Naruto said.

"Ah yes, Juugo-kun. Unfortunately that particular experiment ended in failure due to my inexperience in sealing, that old toad Jiraiya was the seal master not me." Orochimaru told him.

"Yes the book said that sealing was difficult for most people but I... sort of understand it. It's like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle but with kanji and not pieces, you just need the odd shapes to fit into the right spot." Naruto said.

"Interesting..." Orochimaru eyed the boy. "and you say that you understand the sealing methods?" C_onsidering he is from the Uzumaki clan that Isn't too far-fetched._

"Hai, sensei. I don't know how but to me It's almost like just reading something but the book said most people see it differently." Naruto said.

"Yes to most people, me included sealing is like trying to complete a puzzle blindfolded with the pieces constantly changing shape." Orochimaru told him.

"If you could get me a few more books to study on sealing I might be able to learn how to fix the problem I saw in your seal." Naruto offered.

"You know what's wrong with the seal?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Hai sensei. The seal has one major problem that killed whoever you gave it to." Naruto said.

"It completely drained them of all chakra."

"Right. The way the seal is written makes the recipient's own chakra powers the seal but therein lies the problem. The seal takes the chakra but doesn't have the command to stop when it has enough. All I to do is figure out how to write that 'stop' command in and it should work in theory, but that may take years as I have no idea where to start." Naruto explained.

"Years you say..." Orochimaru rubbed his chin. "I think I might know a way to speed that up a bit and you should have the chakra to do it."

"Really? How?" Naruto asked with interest.

"Shadow clones Naruto-kun." Orochimaru answered.

"Shadow... clones?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, they are primarily used for scouting because when the clone dispels the caster gains all of their memories, however it has been theorized that it could be used as a way to increase training dramatically. What could take years would only take months, the only catch being the that shadow clones use up a lot of chakra and even I can't make more than hundred without feeling the effects. I can attest that it does speed up training a bit but I have stopped using it as such due to the chance of dying from chakra exhaustion. You however have chakra stores higher than even mine." Orochimaru told him.

"Why is that sensei? It seems rather odd that I would have more chakra then a Kage-level nin such as yourself." Naruto pondered.

Orochimaru thought it over for a few moments, considering whether he should tell the boy or not. "Naruto what I'm about to tell you is the reason for your high levels of chakra, as well as why you are hated by those damnable civilians."

He went on to explain the night of the Kyuubi attack and how the beast was sealed inside of him. Orochimaru told him that the villagers saw him as a monster for what he held but that their ignorance will eventually be their undoing.

Naruto had lifted up his shirt and channeled some chakra like Orochimaru had told him to do and the seal array appeared in full on his stomach. "So I'm a demon?" He asked.

"No, you are human but the village sees you as such because they fear what they do not understand. I admit that I don't understand seals that well myself but at least I know the difference between a prisoner and It's prison." Orochimaru told him.

"When I'm henged they treat me like a normal person but when I walk around as just me I can see the hate in their eyes." Naruto said. "What is so damn different! They talk to me when I'm henged and I act no different but when It's just me all I receive are glares."

A dark smile appeared on Orochimaru's face. "Don't worry Naruto-kun, they will learn their lesson soon enough."

Naruto never heard him, as he was too busy scowling deeply, lost in his own thoughts. Orochimaru saw this and couldn't help but smile evilly. _The hatred is beginning to entrench in Naruto, soon he will become the perfect vessel._

* * *

**AN - **Oh noes! Will Naruto create the curse seal? How is he taking the news of the fox? Will Orochimaru go all pedo-snake on him? Only time will tell! OH and on a side-note I wanted to add what Anko's birthday gift was to Hinata but I ended up taking it out because I thought it was stupid, so If anyone wants to write up an omake for what they think that Anko's 'girls only' gift to Hinata was, PM me and I'll add it at the end of the next chapter!

_**~Shadowfox**_


End file.
